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Book ,Wl4 L-& 



HISTORY 



OF THE 



TOWN OF WESTON 

MASSACHUSETTS 
1630-1890 



BY 

Col. DANIEL S. LAMSON 




BOSTON 

PRESS OF GEO. H. ELLIS CO. 
1913 






/i 



/// 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Ecclesiastical Origin of the Town 1 

II. General Description and Military Organization . 18 

III. Civil and Ecclesiastical Organization and French 

and Indian Wars 27 

IV. The Old Town Records .'59 

V. Thrifty Finance of ye Fathers (Rates, Taxes, 

Bounties, etc.) -^O 

VI. Weston in the Revolution 67 

VII. In the Wake of the Revolution 102 

VIII. A Record of Forty Quiet Years 118 

IX. The Story of the Town from Year to Year . . . 130 

X. War Veterans, Railroads, etc 137 

XI. Business Interests of the Town 152 

XII. Schools and Teachers 165 

XIII. Evangelical Churches in Weston 173 

XIV. The Medical Profession 182 

XV. The Taverns 186 



APPENDICES, 



I. Rev. Samuel Kendal's Letter of Acceptance. ... 195 

II. Rev. Joseph Field's Letter of Acceptance 197 

III. Seating the Meeting-house 201 

IV. Town Clerks 202 

V. Town Treasurers 203 

VI. Representatives 204 

VII. Selectmen 206 

VIII. The Separation from Watertown as a Precinct . . 210 

IX. • Location and Present Ownership of Historic Build- 
ings and Places mentioned in this History . . 212 



EDITOR'S PREFACE. 



It is scarcely a debatable question, in the opinion of the writer 
of these lines, as to whether this or any other town history is worth 
writing and publishing. The story of any town is worth telling, 
and the story of any man's life is worth narrating, either briefly 
or at length. So, when requested to edit this History of the 
Town of Weston by the late Colonel Daniel S. Lamson, I was 
glad to address myself to the task of getting the manuscript into 
shape and seeing it through the press. In these annals of a quiet 
neighborhood and these outlines of homely but strong and sturdy 
lives, the good colonel has limned for us, with praiseworthy toil 
and zeal, many a pleasant little sketch of scenes in the past life 
of Weston. His work is meritorious for its graphic anecdotes, its 
annals of the church and of the town meetings, and especially 
for its full account of Weston in the Revolution, and for its pro- 
nounced patriotic tone throughout. 

Such features of the work as the description of the grand wagon- 
freight routes from the North to the South along the coast and 
paralleling the Alleghany Range in the days before railroads; 
of the farmer -lads' wagon-freighting of wood to Boston from far 
New Hampshire and Vermont; or of the great trunk stage-road 
between Boston and New York which passed through Weston, 
the logical results thereof being visits to the town by Presidents 
Washington and Adams, events upon which the citizens prided 
themselves not a little, — these things, includmg minute accounts 
of the schools and of the business enterprises of the community, 
are interesting reading and cheer one's way through the dryer 
details. I take it that the latter are not intended for consecu- 
tive reading at all, but for consultation or peeping into on rainy 
days when the mood serves. In other words, a town history is, 
to a large extent at least, a reference book, however interesting 
it may be. 

And how, then, do our ancestors look to us? What is the 
verdict on them? For my part, aside from that matter of offering 



vi PREFACE 

a bounty for the destruction of crows, jays, and red-winged 
blackbirds (see Chapter V.), I find little or nothing in the history 
of Weston and its inhabitants in which we may not take pride. 
They had perhaps a little too close a grip on the gear, which is 
the familiar New England trait. But in that matter of the birds 
they were not at all to blame, because a fuller knowledge had not 
yet taught them that the birds put vastly more into one's pocket- 
book than they take out. 

It would require a Velasquez or a Carlyle to give us an immortal 
portrait gallery of the men and women of early days, for they had 
strong and heroic lineaments and were worthy of the most gifted 
pen and pencil. And yet what finer characters can you find in 
the annals of New England than those of the early ministers of 
this parish as depicted by Lamson, Russell, Hornbrooke, and 
Putnam, and other writers on the church and town.f^ And who 
can do full justice to the plain homespun lives of the laity? We 
all know them, — those sturdy, God-fearing, rugged -featured, 
strong-willed farmers and merchants; those patient, sweet-souled 
New England mothers. They are nearly an extinct race now. 
But, having known and respected them, we think the greatest 
genius in the world could hardly have chronicled worthily their 
lives. 

I happen to have just been reading the story of a community 
as different from that of Weston, Massachusetts, as it is possible 
to conceive, — the story of the Italian hill-town Perugia. There 
is a terrible fascination in the blood-bespattered annals of its two 
thousand years of struggle and war, the insane feuds of its rival 
families, its Baglioni and its Oddi, the endless pageants, rejoicings, 
wailings, slaughters, and conflagrations of the turbulent popu- 
lace and nobility, and a nameless charm, too, in the environing 
landscape of the warm Southland, where, alas! ever "the tender 
red roses of the hedges tossed above the helmets and glowed 
between the lowered lances," and the foliage of the trees waved 
in the twilight "only to show the flames of burning cities on the 
horizon through the tracery of their stems," and the "twisted 
olive trunks hid only the ambushes of treachery." Well, out of 
all that internecine passion and pain and splendid war there has 
resulted to the weal of mankind only a few great paintings and 



PREFACE Vll 

a massive and picturesque mediaeval city still standing to shelter 
its inhabitants and give pleasure to tourists. Good art may 
have been in the past the concomitant or resultant of war. But 
it is not necessarily so. Again, there is something greater than 
art in the world, and that is noble character developed through 
the quiet, peaceful work of useful lives built into the fibre of the 
race. For my part I am prouder to be descended, as I am, from 
such plain Scotch-English stock as produced a Carlyle and a 
Lincoln than if I were sprung from the proudest high-stomached 
steel-clad brabbler lord of the Middle Age or any age. And so, 
doubtless, are the citizens of the fair and fertile hill-town of 
Massachusetts, the story of which is told in this volume. 

As to the accuracy of Colonel Lamson's History of Weston, all 
has been done that could be done to authenticate and correct 
the data without expending upon them an amount of research 
that would have been almost equivalent to rewriting the whole 
book. The proofs have passed under the critical eye of several 
persons. The transcript of the Act of Incorporation of the town 
(see page 18) has been, with scrupulous care, collated with the 
crumbling old record of Acts and Resolves in the State House 
at Boston, and other similar collations have been made, while 
in Appendix VHI. is given a transcript from the State Records 
of the legislative Resolve setting off the town as a precinct. It 
may also be stated that, although Colonel Lamson's chronicle of 
the town's history ended with the year 1890, yet in a number of 
instances we have added statistics that bring the record down to 
1910 and 1912. 

Finally, the editor cannot but express his regret that Colonel 
Lamson himself had not lived to see his work through the press. 
For we all feel that he would have afiForded no exception to the 
well-known law that the turning of manuscript into the printed 
page is always accompanied by innumerable corrections and bet- 
terments. We have done our best to do this work for him. The 
task was not altogether an easy one. Hence over our short- 
comings would it be too much to ask that kindly charity draw 
the veil of silence? w. s. k. 

Belmont, Mass., February 24, 1913. 



HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF WESTON 



I. 

Ecclesiastical Origin of the Town. 
1630-1712. 

At the second Court of Assistants, held at Charlestown, Septem- 
ber 7, 1630, it was ordered "That Trimount be called Boston; 
Matapan should be called Dorchester; and the town upon 
Charles River, Watertown" (Prince's Chronological History of 
New England, pp. 248, 249). 

The exact period when what is called Weston began to be 
settled is not known. It must have been at an early period of 
the Watertown settlement, for there are still standing houses 
or parts of houses which were erected a hundred and fifty years 
ago. June 26, 1637, "A grant of the remote or West Pine 
Meadows were divided and alloted out to all the Townsmen 
then inhabiting Watertown, being 114 in number, allowing one 
acre for each person, and likewise for cattle, valued at £20 the 
head, beginning next the Plain meadow, and to go on until lots 
are ended" (Watertown Records). These meadows were prob- 
ably in the south and south-eastern part of Weston. In July, 
1638, it was ordered 

that all the land lying beyond the Plowlands [lots in the further plain] 
and the lots granted extending west of Stoney Brook, having the great 
dividents on the one side [north] and Charles River and Dedham bounds 
on the other side [south], and the Farm lands at the further end [west] 
of it, shall be for a common for cattle, to the use of the Freemen of the 
Town and their heirs forever, and not to be alienated without the con- 
sent of every freeman and their heirs forever. 

This is the first instance upon record where the term "Farm 
lands" is applied to Weston. The earliest proprietors of land in 



2 fflSTORY OF WESTON 

Weston in 1642 are Bryan Pendleton, Daniel Pattrick, Simon Eire, 
John Stowers, Abraham Browne, John Whitney, Edward How, 
Jeremiah Norcross, and Thomas Mayhew. From 1647 to 1663 
there was much dissatisfaction and contention about the early 
allotments of the Remote Meadows in Lieu of Township, and of 
the Farm Lands; and in 1663 this portion of the town was resur- 
veyed and plotted by Captain John Sherman. It contained 
1,102 acres, bounded on the south by Dedham, west by Natick 
and Sudbury, and on the other side by the Farm Lands. This 
district is frequently referred to in early deeds as "the land of 
Contention." 

In ecclesiastical affairs what is now Weston was connected with 
Watertown about sixty-eight years, and in civil concerns about 
eighty-three years.* The inhabitants of the Farms, and those 
in the remote westerly part of Watertown, went to worship in 
the easterly part of Watertown, at a house situated in the vicinity 
of the old burying-place. The first church in Massachusetts was 
planted at Salem; the second, at Charlestown, including Boston; 
the third, at Dorchester; the fourth, at Roxbury; the fifth, at 
Lynn; and the sixth, at Watertown. On July 30, 1630, at Water- 
town, forty men subscribed a church covenant, and from that 
date seem to have been considered a distinct church. It would 
appear from Governor Winthrop's Journal that the Watertown 
church had a prior existence to the one at Charlestown, and was 
second only to that at Salem. 

In 1692 began the contention in Watertown growing out of the 
location of the new meeting-house considered "most convenient 
to the bulk of the inhabitants." There was great opposition to a 

* A history of Weston from the date of its separation from Watertown in 1698, as a dis- 
tinct precinct, must necessarily commence with a history of its church. There are no records 
of the town other than those of the church for a period of fourteen years. In the early settle- 
ments of New England the church was the nucleus of organization, the bond which held to- 
gether the scattered population of the rural districts, around which the people gathered and 
formed that essentially New England form of government which we call the Town Meeting. 
It was through the action of the town meetings that the democracy of New England was de- 
veloped and brought the population of the towns to take personal action in all that pertained 
to the common interests. They voted to levy taxes on themselves and to dispose of their 
own money, they kept control upon money appropriations and watched carefully their expen- 
diture. It was through the agency of town meetings and the public spirit they developed 
that the country was successfully carried through the Revolutionary War, and they became 
ultimately the framework of our general government. No better test of their efficiency can 
be found than in the successful maintenance of personal liberty and the Constitution against 
the assaults upon them at the time of our Civil War. 



ECCLESIASTICAL ORIGIN OF THE TOWN 3 

change in their place of worship, and in this dilemma the Select- 
men agreed to refer the matter to the governor, Sir William 
Phipps, and his council. This mode of bringing the disputes of 
a town to an issue by referring them to the chief magistrate of 
the State would be deemed singular at the present day, but at 
that early period was not uncommon. The committee appointed 
by the governor to take the matter into consideration consisted 
of William Stoughton, John Phillips, James Russell, Samuel 
Sewall, and Joseph Lynde. They made their report in May, 1693. 
The Selectmen not being satisfied with some of the provisions 
of the report of the committee, it was subsequently revised in 
1694. The report was still unsatisfactory to the townspeople, 
and a protest was placed on record, signed by one hundred citizens, 
of which thirty-three were inhabitants of the Farmers' District, 
later known as Weston. 

The dissensions growing out of the new meeting-house loca- 
tion continued for some years; and as early as 1694 that part of 
Watertown now known as Weston appears to have had separate 
interests of its own in ecclesiastical matters. On October 2, 
1694, "our neighbors the farmers [the name given to the settlers 
west of the present boundary of Watertown] being upon endeav- 
ours to have a Meeting house among themselves the town consents 
that they may come as far as Beaver Brook, upon the road leading 
to Sudbury; to the end there may be peace and settlement 
amongst us." Beaver Brook still retains its old name to remind 
us of this boundary. It passes the main road at the lower part 
of Waltham Plain. The origin of the name will be seen in the 
following extract from AVinthrop's Journal, under date of January 
27, 1632:— 

The Governor and some company with him went up Charles River, 
about eight miles above Watertown, and named the first brook, on the 
north side of the river, Beaver Brook, because the beavers liad shorn 
down great trees there, and made divers dams across the brook. Thence 
they went to a great rock upon which stood a high stone, cleft asunder, 
that four men might go through, whicli they called Adam's chair, because 
the youngest of their company was Adam Winthrop. Thence they came 
to another brook, greater than the former, which tliey called Masters 
Brook, because the eldest of their company was one John Masters. 



4 HISTORY OF WESTON 

This is the present Stony Brook, which forms the boundary- 
bet ween Waltham and Weston. The high hill which Winthrop 
mentions west of Mount Feake is, undoubtedly, Sanderson's Hill 
in Weston, upon which during the Revolution the beacon light 
was established, Jonas Sanderson being its keeper. General 
Sullivan speaks of this beacon light in his Memoirs as the con- 
necting light, uniting his command in Rhode Island with Boston. 
The town of Watertown included what is now Waltham, Weston, 
Lincoln, and a part of Concord. 

In 1697 Mr. Angier became the pastor of the West Precinct of 
Watertown. But as early as 1694 the inhabitants of the Farmers' 
Precinct, to the number of one hundred and eighteen, petitioned 
to be set off into a separate precinct, alleging the great distance 
to the church and protesting against being obliged to go so far 
from home. The prayer of the petitioners was not granted at 
once, — in fact, not until after a period of three years. Justice 
Sewall, who presided over the conference, states in his Diary 
that so great was the contention that he had to pray hard to keep 
the contending parties from coming to blows. Weston became 
a separate precinct in 1698; but on January 1, 1697, they were 
exempted from ministerial rates in Watertown, though not in 
legal form until a year later. After the incorporation of Weston 
in 1712 (up to which period it had been called the "westerly," 
"more westerly," and "most westerly" precinct of Watertown) 
the middle part acquired the name of the West Precinct, or Water- 
town West, and was incorporated as a town by the name of 
Waltham in 1737, or twenty -five years after the incorporation of 
Weston. It would seem that the inhabitants of the Farms were 
in earnest in their determination to be separated from Water- 
town, and probably feared that Watertown would not consent to 
the prayer of the petitioners, for in August, 1695, money was 
contributed by sundry persons for the purpose of preferring a 
petition to the General Court to that end. No record of any 
such petition, however, can be found. Some doubts arising about 
the eastern boundary of the precinct (see Appendix IX.), the 
General Court in May, 1699, passed an order, viz.: — 

The bounds of said precinct shall extend from Charles River to 
Stony Brook Bridge, and from the said Bridge up the Brook Northerly 



ECCLESIASTIC.\L ORIGIN OF THE TOWN 5 

to Robert Harrington's farm; and the brook to be the Boundary; In- 
cluding the said Farm, and comprehending all the Farms, and Farm 
Lands to the lines of Cambridge and Concord; and from thence all 
Watertown lands to their utmost Southward and Westward Bounds. 

The same bounds, in the same words, are defined in the act 
of incorporation of the town. 

January 9, 1695, the inhabitants of what is now Weston agreed 
to build a meeting-house, thirty feet square, on land of Nathaniel 
Coolidge, Sr. In March, 1715, the deed of this land was passed 
to the church by Jonathan Coolidge, son of Nathaniel. This 
church was never completed, but services were held in it in 1700. 
It was styled the Farmers' Meeting-house. It was begun by sub- 
scription and afterwards carried on at the expense of the precinct. 
Meetings were held November 8 and November 15, 1698, officers 
of the precinct were chosen, and provision made to complete the 
church begun in 1695. On August 25, September 15, and Novem- 
ber 16, 1699, still further measures were taken to finish the meet- 
ing-house. February 14, 1700, the precinct voted to have a 
minister to preach in the meeting-house, to begin the second 
Sabbath of the ensuing March. Thus it appears that the small 
house begun in 1695 was not so far completed as to be occupied 
till March, 1700. On March 5, 1700, money was granted to sup- 
port preaching, and grants continued to be made from time 
to time for this purpose. A committee was chosen September 
13, 1700, to apply for advice, as to the choice of a minister, to the 
Rev. President Mather of Harvard College. The committee con- 
sisted of Rev. Mr. Angier, Mr. Brattle, and Mr. Gibbs, and they 
were asked to make a rej^ort. Mr. Thomas Symmes was chosen, 
but no mention is made of him in the records. It is to be pre- 
sumed he declined the call. Mr. JVIors would seem to have been 
the choice of the Precinct Committee, as in December, 1701, it 
was voted that Mr. Mors should continue in order for a settle- 
ment. July 2, 1702, they gave him a call to settle in the min- 
istry, the vote of the church being thirty for and twelve against 
him. In September, 1702, they renewed the call and granted 
him an annual salary, also engaging to build him a house forty by 
twenty feet. This house stood on the present site of the house of 
Deacon White. In 1704 the house was put into the possession of 



6 HISTORY OF WESTON 

Mr. Mors and a grant of money made to enable him to finish it. 
In this year difficulties arose respecting Mr. Mors's settlement 
in the ministry, but there is no record of what the difficulties 
were. In the controversy between the precinct and Mr. Mors, 
whatever might be the grounds of it, there appears to have been 
considerable irritation, and his opposers were thought to have been 
at fault. Mr. Mors had steadfast friends, who were zealous for his 
settlement; but they agreed to relinquish their object, and unite 
in the choice of another man, if the precinct would join in calling 
in mediators who would attempt a reconciliation between Mr. 
Mors and his opponents. Justice Sewall (Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 
156), under date of March 6, 1706, speaks of a council held at the 
house of Mr. Willard, and they advise that after a month Mr. 
Joseph Mors should cease to preach at Watertown Farms. He 
left in the spring of 1706, and was afterwards settled in Stoughton, 
now Canton. A committee was appointed to treat with him for 
the purchase of his house and land, for the use of the ministry, but 
no agreement was reached until 1707, when he conveyed the prem- 
ises to the Precinct Committee, as will be found in Registry of 
Deeds, lib. 14, fol. 646. The committee consisted of Thomas 
Wilson, Captain Josiah Jones, Captain Francis FuUam, Lieu- 
tenant John Brewer. These premises were assigned to Rev. 
William Williams, April 28, 1714 (lib. 22, fol. 211). In 1706 the 
precinct was presented at the Court of Sessions for not having a 
settled minister. A committee was appointed to answer the 
presentment at Charlestown. 

February 11, 1707, the precinct chose Mr. Nathaniel Gookin 
to be their minister, but he did not accept the call. The precinct 
was again presented. May 9, 1707. In June, 1707, a petition was 
prepared to be presented to the Court at Concord, assigning 
reasons for not having a settled minister. The petitioners say 
"once more we humbly pray that the Honourable Court would 
not put Mr. Joseph Mors into the work of the ministry in our 
precinct." They were fearful the Court would i)lace Mr. Mors 
here and not by their own election. July 16, 1707, they chose 
Mr. Thomas Tufts, but he declined the call in September. Janu- 
ary 14, 1708, they agreed to keep a day of fasting and prayer. 
In February, 1708, the people gave Mr. William Williams a call. 



ECCLESIASTICAL ORIGIN OF THE TOWN 7 

Mr. Williams accepted in August, 1709, and he was ordained 
November '■2, 1709, eleven years after the Farms had become 
a distinct precinct. It would appear that the church had no 
regular organization until 1710, when two deacons were chosen. 
They were Captain Josiah Jones and John Parkhurst. The mem- 
bership consisted of nineteen males, — nine from other churches 
and ten who were not communicants. The following are the 
names of those who gathered with the church: Nathaniel Cool- 
idge, Thomas Flagg, John Livermore, Francis Fullam, Abel Allen, 
Joseph Lowell, John Parkhurst, Ebenezer Allen, Francis Peirce. 

The ten others were Joseph Jones, Thomas Wright, Joseph 
Allen, Josiah Jones, Jr., Joseph Woolson, Joseph Livermore, 
Joseph Allen, Jr., Josiah Livermore, Samuel Severns, George 
Robinson. 

It would seem from the following that, although Mr. Williams 
was only ordained in November, 1709, he held a conference at 
his "lodgings" as early as October 12 of that year, and began at 
that date the organization of the church in Weston. The cove- 
nant then subscribed by the inhabitants who gathered with this 
church is so very interesting that its introduction here wuU not 
be out of place. It would also seem that twelve years after the 
signing of the covenant, March 12, 1721, a "Profession of Faith" 
was also signed by the young people of the parish, or what should 
properly be called a renewal of baptismal vow^s and promises. 
This last covenant is still more interesting, as it gives us an idea 
of the strong abiding faith which characterized our forefathers, 
but which in too many instances in this our day has given place 
to laxity and indifference in those things which our sires held in 
such love and veneration. 

Says Mr. Williams: "October 12, 1709, was the day appointed 
(by the members of the Parish) to meet and confer together (at 
my lodgings) where they expressed their charity towards each 
other, and that there was no discord between them, or any thing 
that should hinder their Communion and fellowship. Some time 
was spent in reading the Confession of Faith put forth by the last 
Synod of churches held in Boston in New England, to which they 
assented, and in praying for the Divine Blessing. The covenant 
was read and subscribed by them all." 



HISTORY OF WESTON 



THE COVENANT. 



We do under an abiding sense of our unworthiness of such a favour 
and unfitness for such a blessing, yet apprehending ourselves to be called 
of God to put ourselves into a way of Church communion, and to seek 
the settlement of all the Gospel Institutions among us, do therefore in 
order thereto, and for better promoting thereof as much as in us lies, 
knowing how prone we are to err, abjuring all confidence in ourselves, 
and relying on the Lord Jesus Christ for help. Covenant as follows: — 

First, having perused the Confession of Faith put forth by the last 
Synod of Churches, held in Boston in New England, we do heartily close 
in with it for the substance of it, and promise to stand by maintaining, 
and if need be contend for ye Faith therein delivered to the People of 
God, and if any one of us shall go about to undermine it we will bear 
a due testimony against them. We do all combine to walk together 
as a particular Church of Christ, according to all those Holy rules of ye 
Gospel prescribed to such a society, so far as God has revealed, or shall 
reveal his mind to us in this respect. We do accordingly recognize the 
Covenant of Grace, in which we do professedly acknowledge ourselves 
bound, rooted to ye fear and service of the only true God our Supreme 
Lord, and to ye Lord Jesus Christ the High Priest, Prophet and King 
of his Church unto the conduct of whose Spirit we submit ourselves, 
and on whom alone we rely for pardon, grace and glory: to whom we 
bind ourselves in an everlasting Covenant never to be broken. We 
likewise give up ourselves one unto another in the Lord, resolving by his 
help to cleave to each other, as fellow-members of one body in brotherly 
love and holy watchfulness over one another, for mutual edification, and 
to submit ourselves to all the Holy administrations appointed by him 
who is the head of the Church, dispensed according to the rules of the 
Gospel, and to give our constant attendance on all the public ordinances 
of Christ's Institutions, walking orderly as becometh saints. 

We do all acknowledge our Posterity to be included with us in the 
Gospel Covenant, and blessing God for so rich a favour do promise to 
bring them up in the nurture and admonition of ye Lord, with greatest 
care. Further we promise to be careful to ye utmost, to procure the 
settlement and continuance among us of all ye offices and officers ap- 
pointed by Christ, the Chief Shepherd, for the edification of his Church: 
and accordingly to do our duty faithfully for their maintenance and en- 
couragement, and to carry it towards them as becomes us. Finally we 
do acknowledge, and promise to preserve communion with the faithful 
Churches of Christ, for the giving and receiving mutual Counsel and as- 
sistance, in all cases wherein it shall be needful. Now the good Lord 
be merciful unto us, and as he hath put it into our hearts thus to devote 
ourselves to him, let him pity and pardon our frailties, humble us out 
of all carnal confidence, and keep it for ever more upon our hearts to be 



ECCLESIASTICAL ORIGIN OF THE TOWN 9 

faithful to himself, and one to another, for his praise and our Eternal 
comfort, for Christ Jesus sake, to whom be Glory for ever and ever. 
Amen. 



A FORM OF YE COVENANT ASSENTED TO BY YE YOUNG PEOPLE, MARCH 

12, 1721. 

You do thankfully acknowledge ye Divine goodness towards j'ou, 
that you have been by ye act of your pai-ents dedicated to God in your 
Baptism and by their pious care educated in ye Christian religion, do 
now willingly ratify their act, and solemnly choose ye Lord, Father, Son 
and Holy Ghost into ye profession of whose name you have been baptised, 
for your God and portion. And professing a serious belief of ye holy 
Scriptures as ye word of God, you resolve by his grace to take them for 
ye Rule of your lives: to guide and govern both your faith and practice, 
renouncing all you know to be contrary to his revealed will. You depend 
on the Lord Jesus Christ the mediator of ye Covenant for righteousness 
and strength — that you may be pardoned and accepted with God, and 
may be enabled to walk in sincere obedience before liim. You do also 
subject yourselves to ye Government of Christ in his Church, and to ye 
regular administration of it in this Church while his Providence shall 
continue you here. 

In March, 17*20, the following young persons owned the cove- 
nant and became members of the church : Isaac Harrington, 
Joseph Livermore, Joseph Woolson, Josiah Jones, Robert Allen, 
John Allen, Ebenezer Felch, Josiah Brewer, John Hastings, Joshua 
Bigelow, Jonathan Bullard, Benjamin Rand, Isaac Allen, Jonas 
Allen, Elezebeth Spring, Zedakiah Allen, Benjamin Brown, Jr., 
Francis Allen, Thankful Harrington, Mary Woolson, Hannah 
Woolson, Patience Allen, Prudence Allen, Elezebeth Hastings, 
Mary Livermore, Elezebeth Allen, Ruth Allen, Anna Brown, 
Mary Spring, Mehitable, wife of Dr. W^arren. 

In January, 1715, at a church meeting it was voted that on 
communion day the contributions, or collection, shall in future 
be made previous to the blessing. Also voted that each com- 
municant contribute a sum not less than ten cents at each com- 
munion. 

On March 30, 1710, money was granted to finish the meeting- 
house, by which we learn that the small meeting-house, thirty 
feet square, in Parkliurst Meadow, begun in 1695, had not been 



10 HISTORY OF \^'ESTON 

completed in fifteen years. In 1718 a motion was brought for- 
ward to build a new meeting-house, but the matter was then 
deferred. However, it was probably begun soon after, as, by a 
record extant of a town meeting held October 23, 1721, it was 
voted "to appropriate their proportion of the bills of credit issued 
by the General Court, and that they will forthwith proceed to 
cover and close in ye meeting house with the materials that are 
provided by the Committee." This committee consisted of 
Benjamin Brown, Benoni Gearfield, Ebenezer Allen, Joseph 
Allen, and James Jones. At this meeting it was also "Voted to 
grant the Rev. Mr. William Williams ye sum of seventy and four 
Pounds for his salary, for his labor in the Gospel Ministry amongst 
us for the present year, and six pounds for cutting and carting 
his fire wood ye present year." The location of the new church 
was upon that ground now called the Common, and not upon the 
land granted to the church by Nathaniel Coolidge in 1715. 

In what year the new church was completed is not recorded. 
It is probable that at the time of Mr. Williams's pastorate there 
were no pews in the church, only benches, the men ranged on one 
side, the women on the other, the boys being kept by themselves, 
in charge of a constable. Pews were introduced much later, and 
were built one or two at a time, at the expense of individuals, 
upon obtaining permission from the Selectmen or more frequently 
by a vote in town meeting. 

Mr. Williams continued in the ministry in this church until Oc- 
tober, 1750, covering a period of forty-one years, and was then 
dismissed by a mutual council. No reasons are given on the par- 
ish records for this action. He remained a parishioner after his 
dismissal, assisted his successors, and for a time was school- 
master of the town. He died in Weston, March 6, 1760, aged 
seventy-two years, and lies buried in our old burying-ground. 
Mr. Williams's wife, Hannah Williams, died in Weston, Sun- 
day, December 29, 1745, aged fifty-eight years. Mr. Williams 
preached her funeral sermon, which is still extant. Four of 
Mr. Williams's sermons were published in book form as early 
as 1741. One of these, on "The Nature of Saving Faith," de- 
livered in Mr. John Cotton's church in Newton, is still preserved. 
One of his sermons, on "The Prodigal Daughter," is illustrated, 



ECCLESIASTICAL ORIGIN* OF THE TOWN 11 

and is a most extraordinary production. In tliis publication is 
given what is supposed to be a picture of iSIr. Williams delivering 
the sermon from the pulpit. iVltogether it would seem that Mr. 
Williams was a man of no ordinary ability and energy. 

At a meeting of the church held April 27, 1726, it was voted 
as the general sentiment that "turning ye back towards the 
minister to gaze abroad, and laying down ye head upon ye arms, 
in a sleepy position, in ye time of public worship, are postures 
irreverent and indecent, and which ought to be reformed where 
any are faulty therein, and carefully avoided." 

In 1800 the church of 1721 underw^ent thorough repair. A 
steeple and two porches were added, and a new bell procured of 
Paul Revere, for which the sum of $443.12 was paid by subscrip- 
tion of the people. Mr. Kendal makes no mention of the orig- 
inal bell in his centennial sermon. It weighed only one hundred 
and sixty-four pounds, and was probably brought down from 
Canada in one of the expeditions against the French and Indians. 
It w^as a bell probably belonging to some chapel or convent. Mr. 
Revere purchased the bell at the time he sold the new bell, and 
paid $72.88 for it. The history of this old bell would be interest- 
ing to us to-day. There are persons still living who can remem- 
ber the old church with its high-backed pews, sounding-board, 
and pulpit. There was an air of solemn dignity, an emphasis of 
religious fervor, which this old church typified, that impressed the 
beholder with a reverence its successor never succeeded in doing. 
The destruction of this old landmark, built of solid oak, and re- 
placed by a monstrosity which only a nineteenth-century archi- 
tect could devise, shows both lack of reverence and the decay 
of faith, — a marked trait of our times. When this church of 
1721 was taken down in 1840, it was one hundred and eighteen 
years old. The church of 1840 was erected a little east of the 
old one, on land given for that purpose by Mrs. Clarissa Smith. 

Rev. Samuel Woodward succeeded Mr. Williams, Septem- 
ber 25, 1751, and died October 5, 1782, at the age of fifty-six 
years and in the thirty -first year of his ministry. He was greatly 
beloved by his people and his brethren of the clergy. His com- 
pany was sought and enjoyed by all classes, old and young, the 
serious and the gay. 



12 HISTORY OF WESTON 

At a town meeting held February 24, 1783, Rev. Dr. Samuel 
Kendal received forty -three votes against nineteen opposing 
votes for his settlement in the gospel ministry as successor to 
Mr. Woodward. It was also voted "to grant £200 as an encour- 
agement for his settling with us." And at an adjourned meeting 
held August 11, 1783, Mr. Kendal's answer was received and 
read in open town meeting. Mr. Kendal's letter is a long one 
and somewhat peculiar. His acceptance is conditioned upon an 
increase in the salary offered (£80), and the town voted him 
an additional £10 and an additional five cords of wood. The 
letter will be found interesting, and can be found in full in 
Appendix I. Mr. Kendal was ordained November 5, 1783. It 
is rather curious in this connection to note that eleven of those 
who voted adversely to the settlement of Mr. Kendal entered 
a protest against the proceedings which led to his settlement. 
The protest was placed on the records, but received no other 
attention. Mr. Kendal continued as pastor of the church for 
thirty years, and during this long period was kept from his 
pulpit but one Sunday, either by sickness or inclemency of 
the weather. 

It is to Mr. Kendal's centennial sermon, delivered in 1812, 
that we owe what little we have of the past history of the town 
from the time of its incorporation. The loss of all the precinct 
and town records down to 1754 renders this sermon a most valu- 
able document. Three ministers ordained in Weston had filled 
the pastoral office for over a century. Including the first eighteen 
years of the parish, 694 persons had been admitted to church 
fellowship, — namely, 425 under Mr. Williams, 163 under Mr. 
Woodward, 106 under Dr. Kendal. There were 2,569 baptisms, 
— 1,082 in Mr. Williams's time, 18 between his dismissal and 
Mr. Woodward's ordination, 922 by Mr. Woodward, 15 between 
his decease and Mr. Kendal's induction to office, and 532 by 
Mr. Kendal. Ten deacons were chosen, as follows: Captain 
Josiah Jones, 1710; John Parkhurst, 1710; Benjamin Brown, 
1715; Ensign John Warren, 1733; Thomas Upham, 1767; Thomas 
Russell, 1767; Samuel Fiske, 1780; Isaac Hobbs, 1780; Nathan 
Warren, 1808; Thomas Bigelow, 1808. 

The population of the town was a little over 1,000. In 1895 



ECCLESIASTICAL ORIGIN OF THE TOWN 13 

it was 1,710.* Mr. Kendal gives the bill of mortality for thirty 
years, from 1783 to 1812. Before that time there were no 
means of computing. During these thirty years there were 396 
deaths, making the annual average 13.5, or 66 in five years. Of 
the 396 who died, 90 arrived at the age of seventy and up- 
wards. Out of the 90 that lived to this age, 52 attained to their 
eightieth year, giving more than 1 in 8 that reached fourscore 
years. Of the 52 that arrived at this age, 27 lived to be eighty- 
seven and upwards, giving 1 in 14^ that attained to advanced 
years. Twelve lived to be ninety and upwards, making 1 in 33 
of this very great age. Three lived to be ninety-five and up- 
wards, giving 1 in 132. One lived to be a hundred and two 
years old. This was Mary Hastings, widow of Mr. John Hast- 
ings, who died at the age of eighty-eight years. This bill 
of mortality shows Weston to be as healthy a spot as any in 
the world. 

\Vlien Mr. Kendal was called to this parish, he made a condi- 
tion that he should receive £100 a year. Mr. Woodward had re- 
ceived £80, and Mr. Williams £74. It was represented to him 
that the times were very hard, as indeed they were, there being 
no money in the country and the Continental money hardly worth 
the paper it was printed on. Although the people had added 
£10 and five cords of wood to the salary paid Mr. Woodward, 
Mr. Kendal wrote them a letter addressed as follows: — 

My Christian Fathers, Brothers and Friends, ... As the times are pe- 
culiarly difficult by reason of very heavy taxes, I do freely give up what 
you have now added for three years, so that until after three years are 
expired I shall expect no more than £80 and fifteen cords of wood an- 
nually. [Mr. Kendal well says] that since our ancestors landed on these 
shores, the wilderness has bloomed as the rose, and the desert become a 
fruitful field. The haunts of wild beasts or of savage tribes have become 
populous cities, villages or towns. Where nothing met the eye but nat- 
ure in her rudest dress, where nothing saluted the ear but the yell 
of savages and the howling of beasts of prey, these spacious temples are 
erected to the living God, and the blessings of civilization enjoyed. 

Mr. Kendal gives a list of the young men, natives of the town, 
who had received a collegiate education, — 20 at Cambridge and 
1 at Providence at the close of the centennial period: William 

*Ci. p. 20, line 3. 



14 HISTORY OF WESTON 

Williams, 1729; Nathan Fiske, 1754; DanielJones, 1759; Phineas 
Whitney, 1759; Daniel Stimpson, 1759; Ephraim Woolson, 1760; 
Samuel Savage, 1766; Isaac Bigelow, 1769; Stephen Jones, 1775; 
Samuel Woodward, 1776; Abraham Bigelow, 1782; Thaddeus 
Fiske, 1785; Ebenezer Starr, 1789; Silas Warren, 1795; Isaac 
Allen, 1798; Isaac Fiske, 1798; Charles Train, 1805; Benjamin 
Rand, 1808; Alpheus Bigelow, 1810; Abraham Harrington, 1812; 
Isaac Fiske, 1812 (Providence). 

Mr. Kendal married Abigail, daughter of Rev. Samuel Wood- 
ward, in 1786. She died in 1793, and he married her sister 
Miranda Woodward in 1794. A newspaper of the day speaks 
of the marriage, "and the mark of joy and approbation at this 
alliance manifested by the people of the town, rarely incidental 
to such an event." Mr. Kendal purchased for £490 3d. the es- 
tate of Mr. Benjamin Peirce, who before his death kept a tavern on 
the site now owned by Mr. Francis B. Sears. In 1791 the house 
was destroyed by fire, the family moving into the house of the 
widow Woodward, now that of Mrs. Dickson, which house Mr. 
Woodward built in 1753. Young collegians who were suspended 
for a longer or shorter term for breaches of college discipline 
were sent to rusticate with Dr. Kendal, who kept them up in 
their studies and classes, imparting moral stamina as well. Many 
men who have become famous in the different walks of life passed 
terms of rustication under Dr. Kendal's roof, among these the 
venerable Dr. Bigelow, who was one of the most noted physicians 
of his day. His name may still be seen on a pane of window 
glass in one of the rooms. Dr. Kendal prepared young Alvan 
Lamson for college, who later became a noted divine. In 1814 
Dr. Kendal died. A long notice of his death appeared at the 
time in a Boston paper: — 

On the 15th inst. departed this life the Rev. Samuel Kendal, pastor 
of the church in Weston. A man highly esteemed in life, and deeply 
lamented in death. Few characters, more deserving of respectful atten- 
tion, have been found and exhibited in our country. In 1782 he re- 
ceived the honors of Harvard University and becoming settled as pastor 
over the respectable town of Weston he became at once the guide and 
father of his people. The degree of Doctor of Divinity was bestowed 
upon him by the University of New Haven in 1806. 




THE ELLIS PLACE, CENTRAL AVENUE. 

Formerly ownod and occupied by Hon. James Lloyd, at one time United State.s senator 
from Massachusetts, in 1822 it was bought and occupied by John Mark Gourgas, of a 
notable Huguenot family. It is now owned by the heirs of Mrs. Lucinda A. Ellis. 




■■'j^mmm 



THE OLD !)]{. KENDAL Hot SK, CENTRAL A\I;M ll. 

Built by Rev. Dr. Samuel Kendal in 17i).5 from hand-hewn timber, iiiven by Dr. 
Kendal's parishioners, and hand-made luiils. Later Mr. Alpheus Cutter owned the place, 
and it is claimed that here he made the first cotton batting in this country, and then cotton 
cloth, later moving to Waltham and .starting the industry there. Mr. Luke Brooks bought 
the place about 1841) and remodelled the house. In IStJl it was sold to Mr. Ceorge Sp.ar- 
hawk, and is still owned by his daughter, Mrs. Francis B. Sears. The house was de- 
stroyed by fire February 2.5, IDOti. 



ECCLESIASTICAL ORIGIN OF THE TOWN 15 

After the death of Dr. Kendal, Joseph Allen, a student at 
Cambridge under the elder Ware, was invited to fill the vacant 
pulpit as a candidate for a settlement; but he declined, and the 
town voted on December 27, 1814, to give Mr. Joseph Field, Jr., 
an invitation to settle in the ministry (three only voting against 
him), and "that his sallary shall be $800 annually." Mr. Field's 
answer to the invitation was read in town meeting January 9, 
1815, and will be found in Appendix II. These letters of the 
several pastors require no apology for their insertion in these 
pages. When we consider that the pastorate of this church has 
been held for nearly two centuries by only four ministers, and 
that Mr. Field held the position for over half a century, we see 
that he cannot but have left in the memory of the inhabitants 
a grateful sense of his many virtues and his marked ability. Mr. 
Field was ordained February 1, 1815, President Kirkland of 
Harvard College preaching the sermon. The thermometer on 
that day was eight degrees below zero, and the refreshments 
provided for the occasion by the people froze on the tables, the 
fruit being hard as stones. In 1865, at the completion of the 
half-century of his pastorate, his age and increasing infirmities 
compelled him to relinquish his duties. In compliance, how- 
ever, with the wishes of his parishioners he continued to remain 
their senior pastor. He held this position at the time of his 
death, which occurred November 5, 1869, at the age of eighty-one 
years. The semi-centennial anniversary of Mr. Field, just 
alluded to, was attended by a large concourse of his brethren 
of the clergy throughout the county, as well as by others to the 
number of about three hundred souls. He delivered a vale- 
dictory discourse from Acts vi. 4, "The Ministry of the Word." 
His remarks were made with great feeling and with that peculiar 
emphasis which those who sat under him in earlier days will 
recall. Many were moved to tears as their aged pastor rehearsed 
his life and Christian ministry among them. The deacons chosen 
since his ordination in 1815 were as follows: Mr. Isaac Hobbs, 
Mr. Abraham Hews, Mr. Samuel Hews, Mr. Marshall Hews. 
He stated that he had solemnized over 200 marriages and 180 
baptisms. Over 100 had been admitted to the church, and 480 
deaths had occurred, many of those who had died being very 



16 HISTORY OF WESTON 

aged. He stated that the venerable father of Dr. Kendal, his 
predecessor, lived to the age of ninety-nine years. Rev. Dr. 
Sears followed Dr. Field in an address to the people. The hospi- 
talities tendered the guests on this occasion were of that liberal 
character for which the town has always been celebrated. With 
Dr. Field, it may be said, was first introduced into this parish 
what is now styled Unitarianism, in contradistinction to the old- 
time Congregationalism of the early fathers. 

Rev. Dr. Edmund H. Sears succeeded Dr. Field in the 
pastorate of this church from 1865 to the time of his death in 
1876. 

This was a period of great importance for the town and its 
inhabitants. The Civil War had not ended when Dr. Sears suc- 
ceeded Dr. Field, and the trying time of reconstruction came 
within his ministry. Questions of internal improvement became 
prominent. In all these matters he gave wise and practical 
counsel, and served the town in many and varied ways. He re- 
vised the covenant of the church and increased its membership. 
At his initiative and urgency the parish in 1874 built a new vestry 
with Sunday-school rooms. It was during his ministry that he 
wrote his greatest literary work, entitled, "The Fourth Gospel — 
The Heart of Christ," a book of ripe scholarship and research and 
pure diction, which made a profound impression upon the relig- 
ious public. In many hymnals are included his well-known 
Christmas lyrics, "It came upon the Midnight Clear" and 
"Calm on the Listening Ear of Night." But most of all, by his 
devout and conscientious ministry, by his lovely and refining 
personality, by his eloquent preaching and his inspired pen, he 
gave impetus and sanction and power to the best in the com- 
munity, and, dying, added to the list of the town's worthy min- 
isters a most illustrious name. 

Rev. Francis B. Hornbrooke succeeded Mr. Sears, and was 
installed October 18, 1876, and resigned in October, 1879, to take 
charge of a larger congregation at Newton. 

Rev. Hobart Clark succeeded Mr. Hornbrooke in March, 1880, 
and resigned in February, 1882, and removed to England. 

Rev. Charles F. Russell followed Mr. Clark in November, 
1882, the interval being filled by Rev. Chandler Robbins, who 



ECCLESIASTICAL ORIGIN OF THE TOWN 17 

became a resident of Weston after resigning from the Second 
Church in Boston. 

From the settlement of Mr. Mors in 1702 to the death of Dr. 
Sears in 1876, a period of one hundred and seventy-four years, 
there had been but six ministers over this church. They are 
buried in the town within a short distance of each other, with 
the exception of Mr. Mors, who, after leaving Weston, was settled 
in what is now Canton, where he died. 

It has been necessary to dwell at unusual length on the his- 
tory of the church in Weston, as its history is that of the early 
settlement and the Farmers' Precinct. In those early days 
there was but one church, but one congregation, around which 
the settlers gathered, and paid their tithes for the support of 
the gospel. All things pertaining to the church were voted at 
town meeting, and that down to a very late period, — as solid a 
union of Church and State, while it lasted, as ever existed in the 
old country. As the town and precinct records are all lost, the 
history of the Weston church is the history of the town down 
to 1746 and 1754. 



II. 

General Description and Military Organization. 

In 1711/12 the Precinct of Weston, called the Farmers' Dis- 
trict, assembled and drew up a petition to the Great and General 
Court, praying that the precinct be incorporated as a town, and 
chose a committee of three to carry their petition to the legisla- 
ture. This petition was presented by Captain Francis Fulham, 
Lieutenant Josiah Jones, and Mr. Daniel Eastabroke. A peti- 
tion was also presented to the town of Watertown, that the 
Farmers' Precinct be allowed to form a separate town. "The 
Town of Watertown by a free vote manifested their willingness 
that the said precinct should be a township, according to their 
former bounds," with proviso and conditions, viz.: — 

1. That the Farmers continue to pay a due share of the ex- 
pense of maintaining the great bridge over Charles River. 

2. That they pay their full and due share of the debts now 
due by the town. (This second proviso does not seem to have 
been insisted upon.) 

3. That they do not in any way infringe the rights of proprie- 
tors having land, but not residing among the Farmers. (The 
petition of the precinct to the legislature cannot be found.) 

The following Act of Incorporation of the Town of Weston 
is copied from the Court Record of Acts and Resolves, vol. ix. 
p. 216, in the State Library: — 

Thursday ^^'*'^' ''" ^^""'^■^• 

January 1st, 1712/13. 

His Excellency Joseph Dudley, Esqr Governor. 
The Hon. William Tayler Esq., Lieut. Governor. 

Elisha Hutchinson Joseph Lynde Edward Bromfield 

Samuel Sewall Eliakim Hutchinson Ephraim Hunt 

John Phillips Esqr Penn Townsend Esqr Isaac Winslow Esqr 

Peter Sergeant Andrew Belcher Daniel Epes. 



r 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND MILITARY ORGANIZATION 19 

Upon reading a Petition of Francis Fulliam, Josiah Jones, and Daniel 
Eastabroke, a Committee of the West Precinct in Watertown, commonly 
called the Farms, Praying that (Having the Consent of the Town therefor) 
They be granted to be a distinct Township, to enjoy the Privdleges and 
Immunities which other Towns do and may l)y Law enjoy — Ordered, that 
the Prayer of the Petition be granted, and that the West Precinct in 
Watertown, commonly called the Farms, be erected and made into a 
Township, to contain all the Lands and Farms within the boundaries 
following: That is to say. To extend from Charles River to Stony 
Brook Bridge, and from the said Bridge up the Brook Northerly to 
Robert Harrington's Farm; and the brook to be the Boundary; In- 
cluding the said Farm, and comprehending all the Farms and Farm 
Lands to the lines of Cambridge and Concord ; and from thence all Water- 
town lands to their utmost Southward and Westward Bounds, The 
town to be named Weston, subject nevertheless to the Reservations 
and Savings made by the Town of Watertown in their setting off the said 
Lands — And further granted that the Inhabitants of Weston have use 
and exercise all such Powers, Privileges and Immunities as other Towns 
have and do by Law use and enjoy, as to the Choice of Town officers, al- 
lotting out Lands, Raising of Taxes and for ordering of other Town affairs. 

Concur'd by the Representatives. 
Consented to, J. Dudley. 

The Precinct of Lexington was made a township in March, 
1712/13, over two months after the town of Weston. In the 
article of its incorporation a proviso was inserted that Lexington 
should bear a part of the two-thirds of the charge of the great 
bridge over Charles River in Cambridge annually. This bridge 
was built in 1662 (destroyed in 1685). The expense of its main- 
tenance was apportioned two-sixths upon Cambridge, one-sixth 
upon Newton, and three-sixths upon Middlesex. In 1733 the 
second bridge was destroyed by ice, and rebuilt by the sale of 
town lands belonging to Cambridge. It was again rebuilt in 
1862, at the expense of Cambridge and Brighton. 

The importance of these bridges and the early mode of reach- 
ing the town of Boston by carriages and teams will be treated of 
later on. Weston continued to pay its share toward the main- 
tenance of the great bridge at Watertown down to the year 1803. 

The town of Weston lies twelve miles west of Boston. It meas- 
ures about five and a half miles north and south and three and 
a half miles east and west, and contains about eleven thousand 



20 HISTORY OF WESTON 

acres of land. It originally formed a part of Watertown, settle- 
ments from which made up what are now Waltham, Weston, 
and Lincoln. The population of Weston, according to the 1910 
census, is 2,259 souls. The town is bounded on the north by 
Lincoln; on the east by Waltham and Newton, Stony Brook and 
Charles River being the dividing line (Charles River divides it 
from Newton); southerly by Wellesley; westerly by Wayland 
(formerly East Sudbury) and Natick. 

The old post-road from Boston to New York passes through the 
centre of the town, and for many years was one of the most 
important and best travelled roads of the Union. Over this road, 
in the mail-coach, travelled John Adams when on his way to 
Washington to take the oath as President of the United States, as 
did Daniel Webster and Samuel Dexter when they first went to 
Congress. They breakfasted in the old tavern on Ball's Hill, in 
its day one of the most important taverns in Massachusetts, but 
now gone to decay and condemned. Could the history of this 
house be told, it would make very interesting reading. Down to 
very nearly our own day it was famous among the lovers of good 
cheer, frequented by the Strattons, Rutters, Smiths, and others, 
who were its constant guests, particularly at night, in the times 
when card-playing was not looked upon as a vice. The Lancaster 
turnpike, or, as we call it to-day, the Concord road, passes through 
the northern part of the town, and in former years was the great 
thoroughfare between Boston and New Hampshire, and into the 
Canadas. The Framingham turnpike runs through the southern 
part of the town, but was of less importance in point of travel. 
It was over the post-road, so called, in the centre of the town, 
and over the south (or Framingham) road, that the prisoners, 
after the surrender at Saratoga, passed on their way to Winter 
Hill, Somerville, and there still exists in West Newton the bar- 
room at which the British and American officers stopped on their 
way, to take a drink. This tap-room is still in very much the 
same condition as at that period. 

Weston is a generally uneven and broken tract of land. High 
cliffs and rocks are found within its limits. There are still grounds 
for believing that Mount Feake and the other very high rock, 
mentioned by Governor Winthrop, lie within the Weston boun- 



GENER.\L DESCRIPTION AND MILITARY ORGANIZATION 21 

dary. The town is elevated above the adjacent country, and the 
views from its heights are unsurpassed by any within twenty 
miles of Boston. The soil is rich, though in parts rocky. Per- 
haps one reason of the undeniable salubrity of the town, over 
nearly every other section of our State, arises from the fact that 
the substratum of the soil is blue gravel. The hills are full of 
springs. A number of brooks and rivulets run into streams which 
empty into Stony Brook and Charles River. These brooks, 
for the greater part, rise within the town, and are fed by springs. 
A part of None-such Pond is within the southern limits of the 
town. The meadows in former days were much used for the ex- 
traction of peat of excellent quality, — an article now gone out of 
general use. Snake Rock at Stony Brook, more generally styled 
"Devil's Den," is a cave which, tradition says, was formerly a 
place of refuge and deposit for thieves and their plunder. 

The inhabitants of Weston are mostly farmers, and perhaps 
there are few other towns in the Commonwealth where the land 
has descended from the early settlers to their descendants in such 
unbroken succession as in the case of Weston. It is pleasant 
for us of to-day to look back through the lists of the soldiers of 
the early French and Indian Wars, the patriots of the Revolution, 
and the men of the sectional war of 1861, and find among them 
many, very many, of the descendants of the pioneers of the 
Farmers' District, which came out from Watertown in 1650. Wes- 
ton can count among its inhabitants many who have distinguished 
themselves in every walk of life, as soldiers, lawyers, judges, mer- 
chants. An account of some of these will be found as we go on. 

There were no Indian settlements within the bounds of Weston. 
The country hereabouts was probably used as their hunting- 
grounds. They had their settlements higher up on the banks 
of the Charles and Sudbury Rivers. The only tradition of a 
threatened incursion into the limits of the town relates to the time 
of the attack on Sudbury in 1676, when the Indians planned the 
destruction of Watertown and the other settlements. They then 
penetrated to the western part of the town, and burnt a barn 
standing on the farm now of Mr. Nahum Smith. It does not 
appear that any one was killed bj' them at that time. A few 
months before the attack on Sudbury, December, 1675, a war- 



22 



HISTORY OF WESTON 



rant was issued to the militia of Watertown for impressing 
"twenty soldiers, with provisions, arms, amunition and cloth- 
ing," for the defence of the colony. In Captain Mason's return 
thereto (Mass. Archives, vol. 68, fol. 74) may be seen many 
names of the inhabitants of Weston, or what was then styled the 
"Farmers' District." The list follows: — 



Names of those who responded. Those most fit to goe upon the Service. 



Daniel Warren Sr. 
John Bigulah Sr. 
Nathaniel Hely 
Joseph Tayntor Jr. 
John Whitney Sr. 
George Harrington 
James Cutting 
Wm. Hager Jr. 
John Parkliurst 
Michael Flagg 
Jacob Bullard 
Isaac Learned 
Joseph Waight 
George Dill 
Jonathan Smith 
Wm. Prior Jr. 
Nathaniel Sanger 
Moses Whitney 
Enoch Sawtelle 
John Bright 
John Hastings 
John Bacon 
John Chadwick 
John Windham 
John Barnard 
Ephraim Gearfield 
Joseph Smith 



Daniel Warren Sr. 
John Bigulah Sr. 
Nathaniel Hely 
Joseph Tayntor 
John Whitney Sr. 
George Harrington 
William Hager Jr. 
John Parkhurst 
Michael Flagg 
Jacob Bullard 
Isaac Learned 
Joseph Waight 
George Dill 
William Prior, Jr. 
Nathaniel Sanger 
Moses Wliitney 
John Windham 
Math Bamsham 
Joseph Smith 
John Barnard 



Sd Hugh Mason, Watertown. 



Jacob Fullam, of Weston, son of Squire Fullam, joined the ex- 
pedition, commanded by Captain Lovewell, against the "Pequaw- 
ket" tribe of Indians in 1725. Fullam held the rank of sergeant. 
This tribe of Indians, with Paugus, their chief, had its home in 
the White Mountains, on the Saco River in New Hampshire. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND MILITARY ORGANIZATION 23 

They were very troublesome, and this expedition was under- 
taken to capture and destroy them, and also to gain the large 
bounty offered by the province, of £100 for every Indian scalp. 
The expedition consisted of about forty men. They were led into 
an ambush by the savages, and the greater part were killed, in- 
cluding Captain Lovewell and Sergeant Fullam. Sergeant Fullam 
is reported to have distinguished himself in this fight. He killed 
one savage in a hand-to-hand encounter, and, when a second 
savage came to the rescue of his friend, Fullam and the second 
savage both fell at the same instant, killed by each other's shot. 
There was an old song about this tight, one verse of which runs 
as follows: — 

"Young Fullam, too, I'll mention 

Because he fought so well; 
Trying to save another man, 

A sacrifice he fell." 

The first steps taken toward a military organization were in 
September, 1630, induced probably by the danger which was 
threatening the charter of the province. This charter King 
Charles was said to be about to withdraw, and the withdrawal, 
had it been undertaken, would in all probability, in the then 
temper of the colony, have brought matters to an early crisis. 
The complications in which the British king found himself 
engaged on the Continent of Europe about this time led to the 
American colonies being for a time forgotten. 

In 1636, at the time of the Pequot War, a more general organi- 
zation of the militia took place. In this year all able-bodied 
men in the colony were ranked into three regiments, the Middle- 
sex regiment being under command of John Haines. In 1637 
lieutenants and ensigns were appointed for the train-bands in the 
towns. Information concerning these train-bands is difficult to 
obtain. Neither town nor county records give any very satis- 
factory information of them at this early date. All persons above 
the age of sixteen were required to take the oath of fidelity, and 
that was probably the age when they became subject to military 
duty. It was not uncommon for men to hold office in the mili- 
tary service to a very advanced age. In fact, they were never 
too old for duty. 



24 HISTORY OF WESTON 

In 1643 the danger from the Indians and the scattered popu- 
lation of the township led to the league of the four colonies 
of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven, 
under the title of "the United Colonies of New England." These 
four States, or colonies, contained thirty-nine townships, with a 
population of about 24,000 inhabitants. In 1648 the Narragan- 
sett settlers asked leave to join the confederacy; but they were 
refused, as not having any stable government. Of the 24,000 
people in the confederacy, 15,000 belonged to Massachusetts, 
while the three other colonies had a population of only about 
3,000 each. In 1643 the thirty towns of Massachusetts were 
divided into four counties, — Middlesex, Essex, Norfolk, and 
Suffolk, — each county, as before said, containing a regiment, the 
chief commander of which held the rank of lieutenant, and the 
second in command was styled sergeant-major. The history of 
the Middlesex regiment, which more particularly interests Wes- 
ton, will be found in its place. The train-bands organized at this 
time in every part of the colony were intended for any public 
service in which they could be utilized. But, out of the total 
number in the train-band, one-third were set apart under the title 
of "Alarm Men." These men were to be ready at a moment's 
notice to repel any Indian invasion of the town or settlement. 
They were the home guard, and never went on expeditions calling 
the train-band away from home. They were reported separately 
on the "return lists" which the commander of the train -band 
was required to send to his colonel or superior officer. Some of 
these lists will be found later on in this volume. The "Alarm 
Men" took their arms to the fields when they worked at a dis- 
tance from home. They took their guns to meeting on Sunday, 
and stacked them in the church during divine service. After 
meeting they were formed in front of the church and inspected 
by the captain of the train-band (under whose orders they were, 
as forming part of his company), and in his absence by one of the 
deacons of the church. Every man was provided with a certain 
amount of powder and ball, furnished by the precinct, and, if 
any of the precinct ammunition had been used in hunting or other- 
wise, the delinquent was made to pay for such ammunition. All 
the early settlers were famous marksmen. The rifle was their 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND MILITARY OHdAMZATION 2.5 

usual weapon. One of the most frequent sources of complaint 
against the "Alarm Men," as well as the men of the train-band, 
was the illegitimate use of powder and ball in hunting and turkey 
matches. Turkey shootings in the fall of the year formed a faA-or- 
ite amusement, and continued all over New England down to 
1840. The matches would now be considered as against law, and 
come under the head of cruelty to animals, but in their day they 
served an excellent purpose and made good marksmen, as many a 
bloodthirsty Indian could (if alive) attest. Even boys at twelve 
and thirteen years of age were familiar with gun and rifle, and 
were excellent shots. The change from this school of the soldier, 
as it certainly was in early days, was very perceptible in the War 
of 1861. It was then found that a large percentage of the agri- 
cultural contingents were utterly ignorant of the first principles 
of loading and firing a gun, and in this respect were very much 
inferior to the rank and file of the enemy. At a later period, when 
the danger from Indian incursions had passed, the "alarm list," 
taken from companies, still continued, and, as we approach the 
Revolutionary period, they were styled "Minute Men," and were 
held in readiness against the British, as were their fathers against 
the savages. The company returns still contained the "alarm 
list and minute men" down to about 1800. 

John Speen and his Indian kindred, who owned 16,000 acres of 
land, described as the Indian plantation of "Naticke," were in- 
duced by the General Court to give up their title freely in 1650, 
and their consideration was the "bettering of their souls" (!), re- 
serving the right to take up lots after the English fashion, and 
also in the turbary, piscary, and staveries. 

From 1700 until 1715 there were continual petitions from the 
towns about Natick for a division of this Indian commonage at 
Natick; and finally Adam Winthrop, Governor John Leverett, 
Judge Sewall, and the overseers of Harvard College formed the 
scheme of settling an English missionary at Natick. The heirs 
of the Speens were found, and those of the chief praying Indians 
of Eliot's day, — in all about nineteen families. The Indian 
missionary, Rev. Oliver Peabody, was made a "co-heir" with 
them, making twenty proprietors of John Speen's 19,000 acres. 
Hon. Francis Fullam, of Weston, a justice of the Middlesex 



26 HISTORY OF WESTON 

Court, was intrusted with the business of forming the proprietor- 
ship; and he selected Samuel Jones, of Weston, to survey the 
land, a task he had completed by 1716. By 1719 the proprietor- 
ship had got into working order, and it was announced that the 
minister should receive his portion, the chiefs 60 acres apiece, 
all others 30 acres, and 100 acres should be set apart for the min- 
istry. Elijah Goodnow was proprietors' clerk. In 1799 the 
town took possession of the ministerial lot, and erected a meeting- 
house upon it, the first meeting-house belonging to the town, 
all former meeting-houses being missionary affairs. 



III. 

Civil and Ecclesiastical Organization and French and 
Indian Wars. 

We have seen, in the preceding chapter, that the Farmers' 
District, or what is now Weston, was made into a legal precinct 
in 1698, with all the rights, privileges, and duties which go with a 
precinct organization. It has been shown that, after some delays 
and difficulties which arose concerning the settlement of a min- 
ister over the Farmers' church, Rev. William Williams was chosen 
pastor in 1709, and that soon after, in 1710, the Weston church 
was fully organized by the choice of deacons and the signing of 
the covenant by the eighteen members who then formed the 
church. The church records are full and complete in all that 
pertains to organization and matters })urely ecclesiastical, by which 
is meant the record of births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths. 
They are of great value to us of the present day. The careful 
entry of all things pertaining to church matters is in perfect keep- 
ing with the exalted character of its eminent pastors, — Williams, 
Woodward, and Kendal. With all the above, and valuable 
as the church records are to-day, we have no precinct records 
down to the separation of Lincoln from Weston in 1746, a period 
of forty-eight years. We shall find in the next chapter that the 
town after its incorporation in 1712 performed all the functions 
which may have belonged to a precinct down to the year 1746, 
when a precinct record was begun, but continued only for the 
period of eight years, when its records again are merged into 
the town records, and entirely cease to exist. Whatever precinct 
records may have existed, and probably did exist, previous to the 
year 1746, are entirely lost, along with the records of the town. 

The Lincoln petition to be set off from Weston was made in 
1742, but was not granted until 1746. The petition of the people 
of what is now Lincoln to be set off into a separate precinct 
grew, as we have seen, out of the great difficulties they labored 



28 TOWN OF WESTON 

under of reaching the place of public worship in Weston, in con- 
sequence of the bad condition of the roads leading thereto, and 
the great distance from their homes they were obliged to travel, 
which in winter particularly rendered the proper observance of 
the Lord's Day impossible to them. Although the petition of 
these people was presented to the General Court in 1742, it was 
not until 1744, August 16, that the order granting their prayer 
was issued in the shape of the following document: — 

Read and ordered that the Petitioners serve the Towns of Concord, 
Lexington and Weston with copies of this petition, that so they show 
cause if any they have, on the first Tuesday of the next sitting of this 
Court, why the prayer thereof should not be granted. 

Sd J. CusHiNG, Speaker. 

The town of Weston made no objections to the separation 
or to the bounds regulating that precinct. At the time of the 
aboVe separation the inhabitants of Weston addressed a petition 
to Edward Trowbridge, Esq., justice of the peace, for a precinct 
warrant. In the warrant that he issues he states that the inhab- 
itants had "never yet assembled." It must be borne in mind 
that this was forty-eight years after Weston had been made a 
precinct and thirty -four years after the incorporation of the 
town. 

Middlesex, ss. 

Weston, November 19th, 174G. 

To Edward Trowbridge, Esq., one of His Majesty's Justices of the 
Peace of the County of Middlesex. 

Whereas by an order of the Great and General Court of the Province 
of the Massachusetts Bay, passed the 26th day of April last, a number of 
the Inhabitants of Weston with others, inhabitants of Concord and 
Lexington, are set off to be a precinct and thereby the remaining part of 
the said town of Weston is an entire parish. Therefore we are to request 
that your honor would issue a warrant for calling the first precinct meet- 
ing in the first precinct of Weston to choose precinct officers as the law 
directs. 

James Mirick Nathaniel Allen 

Jonathan Bullard Abijah Upham 

John Walker John Hastings 

Daniel Livermore Elisha Jones 



CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL ORGANIZATION 29 

Middlesex, ss. 

To John Walker of Weston in said County, yeoman. Greeting. 

Whereas application has been made to me the subscriber by more than 
five of the Freeholders of the First Precinct in Weston in writing, under 
their hands, for calling a meeting of the inhabitants of said precinct, 
never yet assembled. 

You are hereby in his Majesty's name required to notify ye free holders 
and other inhabitants of said precinct qualified to vote in town affairs, 
that they assemble at ye public meeting house in Weston aforesaid, on 
Thursday ye eleventh day of December next at 2 o'clock afternoon. 
Then and there, first, to choose a Moderator of ye said meeting and then 
to choose a clerk to enter and record all such votes and orders as from 
time to time shall be made and passed in said precinct, and also a 
Committee for ye calling meetings of the said precinct in the future. 

Sd Edward Trowbridge, J. P. 
Middlesex, ss. Weston, December 11th, 1746. 

In obedience to this warrant I have notified the Inhabitants within 
mentioned to meet at ye within mentioned time and place for ye ends 
within mentioned. 

Sd John Walker. 

At the meeting, as above warned, which assembled on the 
twenty -fifth day of December, 1746, Mr. John Walker was chosen 
moderator, and Elisha Jones, Nathan Fisk, and John Walker 
assessors. At this meeting no treasurer was elected, but in the 
March meeting the following year Elisha Jones was made clerk 
and treasurer, and Ensign Joseph Woolson was chosen to take 
care of the meeting-house. 

An interesting precinct meeting took place on the 25th of 
March, 1751. Francis Fullam presided, and after solemn prayer 
to God for his direction and assistance in so weighty a matter 
as the choice of a minister of the gospel to settle with them 
it was voted to invite Mr. Samuel Woodward to settle in the 
ministry of the church, the vote standing sixty -eight in favor, and 
not a vote for any other person. Deacon "Perkhurst," Deacon 
Allen, and Deacon Upham were made a committee to desire 
Mr. Williams, the former pastor, to deliver to the committee 
the church covenant, records, and papers which belonged to the 
church and which were in his keeping. It was also voted at the 
xApril meeting to give Mr. Woodward, as an encouragement to 



30 • HISTORY OF WESTON 

settle with them, the sum of £133 6s. 8d. At the fall meet- 
ing of 1752, in concurrence with the church, it was again voted 
to give a call to Mr. Woodward, and the vote stood eighty in 
favor and none for any other person. His yearly salary was 
fixed at £66 135. 4c?. for such time as he should remain in the work 
of the gospel ministry. Colonel Fullam, Deacon Parkhurst, 
Deacon Allen, Deacon Upham, and Captain Jones had been pre- 
viously chosen a committee to wait upon Mr. Woodward and 
acquaint him with the votes of the precinct. His letter is dated 
Newton, June 4, 1751. 

To THE Church and Congregation in Weston: 

Gentlemen, — It is some considerable time since you were pleased to 
honour me with an Invitation to settle with you in the Ministry, which 
was backed with a desire that my resolution of the matter might be as 
speedy as was consistant with prudence. Wherefore, gentlemen, after 
my hearty thanks for the favourable opinion you have conceived of my 
labours, I would inform you that although your circumstances seemed 
to call for a sudden answer, yet the work you call me to engage in (as 
it appears to me) is of such moment, that the most mature consideration 
can't be more than it deserves. I have therefore been asking that wisdom 
from above that is profitable to direct: and I have kept you in suspense 
the longer because in the multitude of counsellors there is safety: and 
am now ready to inform you that the unanimity of your call appears 
matter of great encouragement to me, and affords a happy prospect 
of the good success of my ministry: and notwithstanding your circum- 
stances are something peculiar, yet I hope the consideration of duty 
would be more than a counterbalance for all the difficulties which at 
present appear. But, gentlemen, you are all, I presume, sensible of the 
great inconvenience and danger there is in a minister's being dependent 
upon the favour of his people. He must needs then have a great tempta- 
tion to unfaithfulness: lest otherwise he hurt his private interests. 
Wherefore as I propose to devote myself (by the grace of heaven) to the 
service of that people's souls whose minister I am: so I desire that if 
I sow unto them spiritual things, it may not be thought a great thing 
(by them) if I so far reap of their carnal things as to render my life com- 
fortable. And now, gentlemen, notwithstanding your proposals as to 
the nominal sums seem to be considerable : yet who is there among your- 
selves, were he to estimate what he spends in his family, that would not 
find that were he to purchase all by the penny, it would cost him more 
than sixty six pounds, thirteen shillings and four pence per annum.? 
Gentlemen, upon consideration that you propose this without any privi- 
leges or perquisites which are common in other towns (I mean with 




THE OLD JONES TAVERN, CENTRAL AVENUE. 

It was formerly owned by Ephraim Bigelow, and later by William Smith and his de- 
scendants. His grandson, Joel Smith, occupied the tavern before the Revolution, and it is 
here that Howe, the British spy, was traced by the Liberty Men of Weston (see page 77). 
Later the property was purchased by Colonel John Jones, whose descendants still own and 
occupy it. 




THE A1{TE^L\S WARD HOUSE, CENTRAL AVENUE. 

Built about 178.5 by two brothers named Eaton, and purcliased about 1789 by Artemas 
Ward, son of (Jencral Artemas Ward, of Rcvolulionary fame. Through various imrchases 
it became in 183() the property of Mr. Benjamin Pierce, Sr., and is still owned and occupied 
by his descendants. 



CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL ORGANIZATION 31 

respect to a parsonage or any donations in lands or buildings or with 
regard to wood), and upon consideration that yours must needs be a 
place of great expense because near a great road, my best friends in, 
as well as out of, the ministry assure me from their own experience that 
I can by no means live with your offers. And now upon the whole, 
gentlemen, I think that nothing short of the addition of thirty cords of 
wood and in some other way a valuable consideration more to my yearly 
salary can be suflBcient encouragement for my acceptance of your call. . . . 

Sd Samuel Woodward. 

Mr. Woodward ended by accepting the call in a letter dated 
June 17, 1751, and was granted thirty cords of wood. He was 
also granted £26 13s. id. for his ordination expenses. In 1773 
his salary was increased by £13 6s. 8d. The precinct meetings 
continue down to March, 1754, when they cease entirely, and 
the town records commence in the same book, under date March, 
1754. No mention is made of the transfer of church matters 
to the town; but from that date the town, in town meeting 
assembled, assumes all the duties toward church affairs (as we 
have seen by old town-meeting records) that they performed 
after the incorporation of the town. As the record books now 
stand, it would appear to any stranger that the precinct was 
set off in 1746 and the town incorporated in 1754. Bond 
gives the names and the year of each and every representative 
to the General Court from the town of Weston from 1712 to 1754, 
and it stands to reason that there always had been regular and 
legal town meetings throughout the interval of the lost records. 
From 1754 on the inhabitants in town meeting assume all charge 
of the church, pay the minister's salary, provide his firewood, 
make all the repairs the church requires, seat the congregation, 
and from time to time build and let the pews. In 1755 it would 
appear that the first pews were built upon petition of individuals 
who were willing to pay (in consideration of the use of them), 
the money to be expended in building a porcli on the foreside of 
the house and also stairs in the porch to go into the galleries. 
A life interest in these pews was granted uj^on payment of certain 
rates and the pews were to be built at the cost of the applicants. 
It may prove interesting in our day to be made acquainted with 
the manner of the dis])osal of these pews and the names of those 
w^ho were the first owners. (Up to this period the congregation 



32 HISTORY OF WESTON 

was seated on benches, and the places on these benches were 
redistributed by order in town meeting every few years.) 

To Elisha Jones, the second pew east from the pulpit. 

To John Warren, the second pew in the north-west corner. 

To Theophilus Mansfield, the pew next to the south door on the east. 

To Nathaniel Felch, the pew between the men's stairs and the west door. 

To Braddyll U. Smith, that next the middle alley on the women's side. 

To John Walker, that next the middle alley on the men's side. 

To Nathan Fisk, the middle pew on the women's side. 

To Abraham Gale, the middle pew on the men's side. 

To James Stimpson, the pew next the women's stairs. 

To Joseph Steadman, the pew next the men's stairs. 

The town was extremely watchful that no persons should be 
permitted within town limits who would be likely to become a 
charge and burden upon the town, and any inhabitant of the town 
who harbored any such person and failed to give notice to the 
Selectmen was prosecuted to the extent of the law, and was re- 
sponsible personally for all charges the town incurred. Accord- 
ingly, we find that in the year 1755/6 Bathsheba Moulton, widow 
Mary Flagg (and her infant child), Jane Thomas and Hannah Ha- 
gar, and Thomas Partridge and his wife were ordered out of town. 

In 1764 the town ordered that the church be newly shingled, 
and that a workhouse should be built, and an acre and a half 
of land should be purchased of Josiah Smith adjoining the land he 
gave to the town for a workliouse. This workhouse cost the sum 
of £208 195. lOd., and was situated on what is now land of Mrs. 
James B. Case, nearly opposite Mr. Pennock's house. After 1781 
it was let from year to year as a dwelling and finally taken down. 

In 1767 the gallery pews were made in the church, although 
previously there had been opposition to this being done. The 
people this year were reseated in the church. The towns of 
Watertown, Waltham, and Weston owned jointly a farm near 
Wachusett Hill. It is probable that this was a poor-farm, where 
the people at the charge of these towns were sent, and either sup- 
ported or made to work out their board. A committee appointed 
by the town of Weston sold the town's interest in this farm for 
£267 65. 8d., and it was after the sale of this farm that the town 
voted to build in Weston the workhouse above mentioned. 



CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL ORGANIZATION 33 

An act was passed in the General Court of Massachusetts Bay 
in the reign of George II., held at Boston in 1760, for assessing 
the sum of £97,345 135. The assessment of the following towns 
in Middlesex County is interesting as showing the relative value 
of property in these towns, viz.: Walthani, £339 16s. 3c?.; Weston, 
£302 4-s.; Watertown, £374 Us. 4rf.; Lincoln, £261 19s. Id.; 
Lexington, £447 Us. Sd.; Newton, £638 6s. 8d. 

Weston seems to have gained in importance, as shown in the 
relative enumeration for beef, as seen by an order of the legisla- 
ture requiring the following amount of beef for the supi)lies for 
the army in the year 1780, viz.: Waltham, 7,200 cwt.; Weston, 
7,930 cwt.; Watertown, 8,340 cwt.; Lincoln, 5,640 cwt.; Lexing- 
ton, 7,770 cwt.; Newton, 10,980 cwt. 

An order was passed in the legislature, June 30, 1781, to raise 
2,700 men for the army at West Point, at the earnest request of 
General Washington. The Weston quota was eleven men, the 
same number as Watertown and one more than Waltham. 

In 1755 Massachusetts held 3,000 slaves. Of this number 
Boston had 1,000, and Weston 10. In 1773 there were 16 slaves 
in Weston, and 218 voters.* 

Although we have no detailed records of the part the Weston 
contingent took in the French and Indian Wars from 1753 to 
1759, what little we have wall not fail of interest to the descend- 
ants of the men whose names are upon our muster-rolls, the more 
so as many of the names on these lists are still on the voting 
lists of our own time, the latter representing direct descendants 
of the former. While our ancestors of a century and a half ago 
were fighting for the crown, and most frequently at their own 
expense, they were being instructed in the school of the soldier, 
and were veterans when the War of the Revolution broke out. 
Many of our most distinguished generals and officers of the Revo- 
lution served in the ranks as soldiers of the crown. During the 
French and Indian Wars, from 1735 to 1760, it became necessary 
to keep open direct ways of communication between eastern 
Massachusetts and the frontiers of Canada. Massachusetts, until 

* In July, 1771, Nathan Patch, of Worcester, for the sum of £40, sella to Isaac Jones, 
of Westoil, a negro female slave, about twenty years old, together with her wearing apparel. 
She was then called by the name of "Lucy," but the said Jones proposed to call her "Venice." 
The sale was made by regular deed as of real estate. 



34 HISTORY OF WESTON 

1740, claimed all the territory that now constitutes the States of 
Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, and manned and sup- 
ported the forts at Keene, N.H.,and on the Connecticut River at 
Westmoreland, Charlestown,N.H.,Fort Dummer,and Brattleboro, 
Vt, To make the transportation of ammunition of war possible 
to these frontier forts, roads had to be and were constructed. 
Massachusetts constructed the road through New Hampshire to 
Crown Point on Lake Champlain. To hold Crown Point was of 
first importance, as it was through this route that the French 
and Indians made their incursions upon the eastern settlements. 
The Indians had trails through northern Massachusetts and New 
Hampshire on which they travelled with their booty and cap- 
tives, but these were useless for the transportation of guns and 
heavy material of war. 

Weston men served in the expedition of 1755 in the Massachu- 
setts regiment commanded by Colonel Moses Titcomb. The 
major of this regiment was Ephraim Williams, of Newton. The 
same year Major Williams was made colonel of a Massachusetts 
regiment. There seems to have been no little difficulty in placing 
Colonel Williams where he belongs, but, judging from the pages 
of the Jones genealogy, there can be no further question. Ephraim 
Williams's father married for his second wife Abigail Jones, daugh- 
ter of Josiah Jones, of Weston. After his marriage he came to 
Weston to live, moving from Newton in 1753. Mr. Williams 
lived in the house which at one time stood facing the Baptist 
parsonage. Mr. Williams's son, Major Ephraim Williams, came 
to Weston with his father, but soon after the father moved to 
Stockbridge. Both father and son had received from the crown 
large tracts of land in Berkshire County, as had also Colonel 
Josiah Jones. These lands were granted them for services in the 
earlier wars and in payment for dues. Below is a bill * made out 

* 1753. Major Ephraim Williams, Dr. 

Feb: 20th To Saddle £2 : 10 : 8 

" a pair saddle bags 17:4 

" ye change of hats 2:8 

" one Dollar 6:0 

" a bridle 16:0 

" pair brass stirups 16:0 

" a fringe housen 1:9:4 

" cash for mending watch 12:0 

1754 

Jan. 20 " a quilted saddle 2:12:0 

£10 :2 :0 



CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL ORGANIZATION 35 

to Major Ephraim Williams (dated February, 1753) for his mili- 
tary equipment for the expedition of that year, — the material 
purchased of the Joneses in Weston. The Joneses kept a store 
at that time in a building east of the present house. 

Colonel Williams was never married. The night before the 
battle in defence of Fort William Henry, at Lake George, in 
1755, Colonel Williams made his will, bequeathing his lands in 
Berkshire County to found a school. The school was founded 
under the title of Williams College. The bequest at the time of 
his death was valued at $10,000. 

Colonel Williams was killed with Colonel Titcomb and old 
Henrick, the Indian sachem, on the morning of the fight. In 
this battle Israel Putnam was a private, and John Stark, the 
victor of Bennington, was a lieutenant. I cannot find that there 
was any family relationship between Colonel Williams's family 
and that of Rev. Mr. Williams of the parish in Weston. It has 
been claimed that Rev. Mr. Williams was his uncle, but of this 
there is doubt. Mr. Williams was connected with the Connecti- 
cut Williams family. 

In 1758 we have the list of the men from Weston who enlisted 
or who were impressed for His Majesty's service within the 
Province of Massachusetts Bay to serve under Jeffrey Amherst. 
This list is interesting as giving the ages of the men enlisted and 
the number of years they served. 

Return of the Men Enlisted or Impressed for His Majesty's Service within 
the Province of Massachusetts Bay under Jeffrey Amherst, Esq., Gen- 
eral and Commander-in-Chief for the Invasion of Canada, 1758. 





Place 






Names. 


of residence. 


Age. 


In a former expedition, etc. 


Noah Norcross 


Weston 


23 


175.5, 6, 7, 8. 


Joseph Norcross 






21 


1758. 


Isaac Norcross 




< 


20 


1755, 6, 7. 


Asa Smith 




< 


17 


Owned his own gun. 


Ichabod Stanley 




< 


23 


1758. 


Stephen Harrington 




< 


19 


1758. 


David Allen 




< 


50 


Owned his own gun. 


Daniel Coolidge 




< 


17 




Wm. Norcross 




c 


35 


1755, 6, 7, 8. 


John Bemis 




< 


46 


1757. 8. 



HISTORY OF WESTON 





Place 






Names. 


of residence. 


Age. 


In a former expedition, etc. 


Samuel Cory Jr. 


Weston 


32 


Owned his own gun. 


Elijah Spring 




22 




Thaddeus Spring 




19 




Abijah Livermore 




21 




Nathaniel Livermore 




20 




Joseph Livermore 




19 




James Martin 




23 


1757. 


William Bond 




20 


Owned his own gun. 



N.B. — Cuffee Peacock, slave of Jonathan Bullard of Weston, 
was in Captain Jonathan Brown's company of Colonel Williams's 
regiment in the attack on Canada from May 2 to November 
9, 1758. 



List of the Train Band in Weston in 1757. 



lehabod Stanley. 
Jonathan Fiske. 
James Mansfield. 
Jonathan Walker. 
Joseph Jones. 
Samuel Stimson. 
Stephen Harrington. 
Thaddeus Spring. 
Nathaniel Dewing. 
Jonathan Jones. 
Solomon Wheeler. 
Oliver Robinson. 
Jacob Adams. 
William Bond. 
Elijah Gregory. 
Thomas Fuller. 
Israel Jones. 
Henry Bond. 
Henry Smith. 
Benjamin Dolbear. 
Jonas Bowman. 
Samuel Gooding. 
Christopher Capen. 
John Binney. 
Moses Harrington. 
Samuel Jones. 
Asa Woolson. 



Abijah Livermore. 
John Abbott. 
Joseph Norcross. 
Simeon Hagar. 
Increase Leadbetter. 
William Norcross. 
Isaac Whittemore. 
Jonathan Sheppherd. 
Nathan Parkhurst. 
Woodis Lee. 
Jonathan Stedman. 
Abijah Steadman. 
Elisha Jones. 
Isaac Allen. 
Henry Spring. 
John Warren. 
Jonas Harrington. 
Jonathan Stratton. 
Benjamin Bond. 
Abraham Jones. 
Samuel Child. 
Aaron Jones. 
John Mirick. 
William Lawrance. 
David Allen. 
Daniel Smith. 
John Allen. 



CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL ORGANIZATION 



37 



Samuel Cary. 
John Lamson. 
Nathan Woolson. 
Isaac Hobbs. 
Joseph Lovewell. 
EHsha Gale. 
Jonathan Stimson. 
Joseph Stimson. 
Edward Hastings. 
Jonathan Benjamin. 
Isaac Gregory. 
Timothy Bemis. 
Jeremiah Fuller. 
William Whitney. 
Samuel Lawrance. 
Nathaniel Felch. 
Josiah Parkhurst. 
Samuel Lamson. 
Francis Jones. 
Daniel Gearfield. 
John Walker. 
Samuel Gearfield. 
Abijah Wheeler. 
Elisha Fullum. 
Elisha Gregory. 



John Bemis. 
Andrew Stimson. 
Abraham Whitney. 
Thomas Russell. 
William Smith. 
Thomas Upham. 
David Stearns. 
Joseph Whitney. 
Joseph Garfield. 
Thomas Rand. 
James Livermore. 
Jabez Harrington. 
Benjamin Jcmes. 
Ebenezer Phillips. 
Isaac Jones. 
Nathan Jones. 
Henrj' Gale. 
Joseph Bigelow. 
Jonathan Hagar. 
Elisha Cox. 
Benjamin Hagar. 
Benjamin Peirce. 
Isaac Cory. 
James Smith. 
Thomas Hodgkins. 



The foregoing is a true list of the Train Band in the town of Weston. 
[Signed] Albert Braddyll Smith, Clerk. 



Middlesex, ss. 



Weston, April 18, 1757. 



Mr. Braddyell Smith, clerk of the Military Company in said town, 
made oath that this is a true list of the Train Band in Weston. 

[Signed] Col : Elisha Jones, Justice Peace. 

[Copied from State Records, vol. 95, fol. 277.] 



Alarm Men in Town of Weston, 1757. 



Josiah Livermore. 
Isaac Hager. 
Nathan Fisk. 
John Walker. 
Theophilus Mansfield. 



Abraham Bigelow. 
Nathaniel Jennison. 
Nathaniel Felch. 
Joseph Weelson. 
Nathaniel Bigelow. 



38 



HISTORY OF WESTON 



Jonathan Binny. 
Ebenezer Hobbs. 
Samuel Baldwin. 
Josiah Allen. 
James Mirick. 
David Flagg. 
Nathaniel Williams. 
Jeremiah Whittemore. 
James Stimson. 
Thomas Flagg. 



Samuel Train. 
Joseph Noreross. 
Josiah Smith. 
Nathaniel Stimson. 
Henry Leadbetter. 
Thomas Benny. 
William Whitney. 
Josiah Parkhurst. 
Benjamin Brown. 
Samuel Woodward (Rev.). 



This is a true Alarm List made by Capt. Elisha Jones. 

[Signed] Att. Braddyll Smith. 



Middlesex, ss. April 18, 1757. 

Mr. Braddyll Smith, Clerk of the Military Company in Weston, made 
oath that according to the best of his Knowledge The foregoing is a True 
List of the "Alarm" men Belonging to said Company. 

Col. Elisha Jones, Jus. Peace. 



Roll of Captain Henry Spring's Company of Weston in Colonel William 
Williams's Regiment, December, 1758.* 



Elisha Flagg, 


49 


Days. 


Samuel Jones, 


49 Days 


Elisha Spring, 


54 




Increase Leadbetter, 


47 " 


Noah Noreross, 


49 




Joseph Stimpson, 


47 " 


Benjamin Dolbear, 


23 




Joseph Jones, 


47 " 


John Bemis, 


23 




John Abbot, 


47 " 


Elisha Cox, 


31 




Samuel Stimson, 


47 " 


lehabod Stanley, 


23 




Samuel Cory, 


47 " 


William Bond, 


27 




Henry Smith, 


47 " 


James Bigelow, 


50 




Christopher Capen, 


41 " 


James Mansfield, 


47 




Joseph Allen, 


58 " 


Abijah Livermore, 


45 




William Cory, 


51 " 


Jonathan Walker, 


47 




Josiah Mirick, 


30 " 


Thaddeus Spring, 


50 




Stephen Harrington, 


46 " 


Solomon Wheeler, 


47 




Joseph Noreross, 


47 " 


Oliver Robinson, 


47 









* The men were paid " (id. per day." State Records, vol. 97, p. 5. 



IV. 

The Old Town Records. 

The records of the town of Weston, as has already been stated, 
are lost from the date of its incorporation in 1712 to the opening 
of the second volume of records in 1754, a period of forty -two 
years, the more to be regretted as these years cover its first records 
as a town, which would be of great interest to-day, besides which 
we are deprived of all knowledge of the part the inliabitants took 
in the French and Indian Wars of that period. What would 
seem strange, if these records were lost previous to the opening 
of the second volume, is that no mention should have been made 
of their loss at the date of 1754. The labor and research of the 
writer in seeking out these documents cover some four or five 
years. By the kindness of those who have taken an interest in 
the hunt for any part of the records scattered about among 
family papers, the search has been, to a moderate degree, success- 
ful. The portions recovered will be given here, for they will prove 
of interest as filling the gap in some small measure of what has been 
lost. A curious fact in relation to the recovery of what docu- 
ments have been unearthed is that they have been sent to the 
writer by persons no longer belonging to the town of Weston. 

Mr. Kendal in his centennial sermon mentions that in the 
year 1718 a motion was brought forward in town meeting to 
build a new meeting-house, but the subject was deferred. How- 
ever, in 1721 the subject was considered, as follows: — 

At a Town Meeting of the Inhabitants of Weston orderly warned 
and met together on Monday ye 5th day of March 1721 to hear ye towns 
Treasurers accounts; to elect and choose Select Men and all other town 
officers as ye Law directs, to know ye towns minds whether they expect 
ye Committee to lay ye foundations of ye New meeting house and also 
to know the towns mind relating to their giving. 

Lieut: Josiah Jones, Chosen Moderator. 



40 HISTORY OF WESTON 

The town treasurer's accounts read: — 

Voted by said town at said meeting that they do expect ye towns 
treasurers accounts. 

The town then proceeded to ye choice of Selectmen. 

Selectmen, 1st Lieut: Josiah Jones. 2d Benoni Garfield. 3d James 
Jones. 4th Dea: Benjamin Brown. 5th Sergt. Joseph Allen, 

Town Clerk, Deacon Benjamin Brown. 

Town Treasurer, James Jones, 

Constables, 1st Jonathan Bigalo. 2d Joseph Brooks. 

Assessors, 1st Joseph Woolson. 2d Benoni Garfield. Dea: Brown. 

Surveyors, 1st John Madab. 2d John Jones. 3d John Parks. 4th 
John Lamson. 

Tythingmen, 1st Thomas Upham. 2d John Warren. 

Fence Vewers, 1st Jacob Pierce. 2d Josiah Coolidge. 

Hogrives, 1st Jacob Fullam. 2d Abijah Upham. John Whitney and 
Samuel Allen. 

Sealer of Weights, John Fitch. 

Voted that ye assessors take the Invoice. 

Sexton, Richard Norcross. 

Voted by ye Town that their Service go at large for ye j^ear. 

Voted by said Town that the Committee prepare ye foundations for 
ye New Meeting house & to appropriate their proportion of the bills 
of credit to this object. 

All the above sworn in March 12th 1721. 



In 1720/21 the General Court, to meet public charges, au- 
thorized the province treasurer to issue bills of credit, which were 
to be distributed by loan at five per cent, per annum to the dif- 
ferent towns, in a specified proportion according to each town's 
proportion to the last province tax, one-fifth part of which sum 
loaned was to be refunded each year. The first emission of these 
bills, under this act, was to the amount of £50,000. There is 
no record of the part of Weston in these bills. We have also the 
following record: — 

The select men of Watertown met on December 26th 1718 and ad- 
journed to meet on the first Wednesday of January next, to consider 
what may be most proper or further to be done in the aflFair about the 
Bridge over Charles River, and the select men of Weston have present 
notice of the same, who are desired to be present at the same meeting, 
to hear what proposals are made by Jonathan Groom of Newton as to 
the building of a Bridge over said river. 



THE OLD TOWN RECORDS 41 

The town of Weston entered with Watertown into a contract 
for the building of this bridge. By the wording of this notice 
to the Selectmen of Weston, it would seem at first blush that 
this was the first l)ri(lge over Charles River at Watertown. But 
this must not be understood as stating that there never had 
been any kind of a bridge at Watertown before this date. The 
bridge above alluded to was evidently the first bridge for the pas- 
sage of carriages and teams. The Watertown foot-bridge, later 
adapted for horses, was probably the first bridge of its kind built 
in Massachusetts. At the time of the early settlements, and even 
down to the time of the Revolution, all travelling was done on 
horseback, and teams were transported to Boston at different 
points by ferriage. For many years Boston could only be reached 
by land through Roxbury. In IT^^ Thomas Prentice and 
Thomas Learnard, the men who built the Watertown bridge in 
1719, appealed to the towns of Watertown and Weston for ad- 
ditional remuneration, as they find they have been very great 
losers, and state that other towns are backward in paying 
their share for the building. The town voted to dismiss the 
petition. 

Here follow certain fragments of the town records from 1722 
to 1746:— 

At a General Town Meeting of ye freeholders and other Inhabitants 
of Weston qualified according to Law to vote In town affairs : orderly' 
warned and met together, on ye third da.y of August 172*2. 

1. In order to hear the accounts of ye Committee, who were chosen 
to procure a frame for a new meeting house, &c. 

2. To know ye Towns mind what they will do with respect to the Cover- 
ing and Closing or finishing the new Meeting house. 

Benjamin Brown chosen Moderator. 

1st, Voted by said town at ye above said meeting, that the Committees 
accounts be referred to some other Town meeting when it may be con- 
venient: and if they be then offered to the Town. 

2d, Voted by said Town at said meeting : that they will forthwith pro- 
ceed to cover and close ye new meeting house with the materials that 
are provided by ye Committee. 



42 HISTORY OF WESTON 

3d, Voted by said town at said meeting that Benjamin Brown, Benoni 
Garfield: Ebenezer Allen: Joseph Allen: and James Jones be a Com- 
mittee for the town to manage the affairs of Covering and closing the 
new meeting house. 

At a General Town Meeting of the freeholders and other inhabitants 
of ye Town of Weston qualified as ye Law directs to vote in Town Affairs: 
orderly warned and mett together: on Monday ye 5th day of November 
1722. 

1st, To grant the Reverend Mr. William Williams his sallary for his 
Labour in ye Gospel Ministry amongs us ye present year, begining the 
10th day of September 1722 and to take care of cutting and carting his 
firewood this year. 

2d, to hear the Committees accounts how they have improved the 
Public money that was appropriated to the building a new meeting 
house. 

3d, To hear the account of what hath been done in hand labour and 
carting for said house. 

4th, To see if ye town will grant a rate of so much as upon Computa- 
tion shall be thought convenient: so ye labour that hath been done at 
said house may be proportioned: and that there may be money for ye 
further carrying out work on said house. 

5th, To see what the Town will do about schooling. 

Benjamin Brown chosen Moderator. 

1. Voted by said town at said meeting that they do grant to the 
Reverend Mr. William Williams ye sum of Seventy and four pounds 
for his sallary: for his labour in ye Gospel ministry amongst us in this 
present year beginning the 10th day of September 1722. 

2. And Six Pounds for cutting and carting his fire wood ye present 
year. Voted by said town at said meeting: that they would accept 
the committe accounts of lajdng out the sum of 181 : 16: 5 of ye publick 
money towards the new meeting house. 

3. Voted by said town at said meeting: that they accept ye credit 
offered by the Committee in said meeting: of the hand labor: carting 
of boards : and Cedar for the enclosing and also stone for ye foundations 
of the new meeting house amounting to the sum of 36: 18. 

4. Voted by said town at said meeting that they do grant the sum of 
one hundred and fifty pounds money, that so ye labor that hath been 
done may be proportioned and that there may be money for ye further 



THK OLD TOWN RECORDS 43 

carrying on of the work of said meeting liousc: antl that the said 150 
Pounds be paid in hy the last day of May 172.'5. 

5. [The remainder of tliis report of the above town meeting is torn off.] 



Here is an extract or close of a vote passed in a town meeting in 
Weston on Monday, the first day of March, 1730/1, relating to 

a Town way leading from Lexinton through ye lands of Dea" Benjamin 
Brown and Liut: Thomas Garfield and others, &c., viz. The above said 
way to be Two rods wide saving at ye Causeways above mentioned and 
to be opened at ye expiration of three years from the date above mentioned 
in ye meantime hang convenient Gates. The above said way Confirmed 
by the Town on the 1st day of March 17.'}0. 

James Mirick, Town Clerk. 



The road from Lexington to Weston would seem to have been 
laid out as early as 1730, as will be seen in the following: — 

An extract for a particular and private way markefl out by the Select- 
men of Weston in the Northerly part of Said Town from Lexington line 
to the Town road by Josiah Brewer's. The Selectmen judging it neces- 
sary. Beginning at Lexington line, so running Southerly over John 
Headley's land and through Joseph Brooks' land the said Brooks to have 
liberty to hang a gate on the said way at his Southerly bounds, till such 
time as there is a way laid out in Lexington to accomodate the said 
Joseph Brooks, so through other land of said Headley, so through the 
land of Joseph Peirce, through a piece of Judali Clark's land and through 
the land of Jonathan Jackson to Deacon Benjamin Brown's and Thomas 
Garfield's corner, so entering at the corner on said Garfield's side of said 
corner and running on the Devission line Southerly to the next Squadron 
Strait and coming out at said squadron half on the one side and half 
on the other side of the said Division line, so along still Southerly one 
rod on each side of said line to the causid and over said causid but one 
rod wide, so unto the Drawliara one rod in eacli then turns South east- 
erly on and through said Brown's land as marked, viz., a gray oak tree 
on the east side thence to a walnut tree on the West side, thence to a pine 
on the West, then bowing about to another pine on the east side, then 
to another pine on the east side, through to another pine on the east 
side. The turning about toward the east under the hill side to a gray 
oak tree on the north, then turning Southerly to a wliite oak tree on ye 
east side, thence to the end of the two rods reserved by Deacon Brown 
between Josiah Brewer & Daniel Carter. So along Southerly on said 



44 HISTORY OF WESTON 

Two rods to the squadron line to a heap of stones on a rock on the said 
squadron Hne. (So over Brewer's land and Jackson's land to the Town 
road first mentioned.) The way upon record out of which this is ex- 
tracted was brought to the Town for confirmation at their annual meet- 
ing on the 1st day of March 1730/1 and voted in the aflSrmative. 

Extract from the Weston Book of Records, pages 130, 131. 

Examined per Nathaniel Goddard, Town Clerk. 



It would seem at this period, when a road was made through 
land of owners, such as that of the above-mentioned Brown and 
Garfield, instead of the town paying damages, the owners were 
allowed to erect gates and charge toll. There seems to have 
grown out of the above privilege granted to Brown and Garfield 
a complaint made to the Selectmen in 1734/5 by both Brown 
and Garfield. As is probable (there being no paper to show by 
whom), a petition had been made to the town to have the gates 
removed, etc. Both Brown and Garfield protest against any 
action being taken by the town. 

This matter of the Brown and Garfield gates seems to have 
come up continuously until 1735, when, at a town meeting held 
May 13 of that year, the town voted to reconsider the privilege 
granted to Brown and Garfield, but that the road should not 
be laid open till after the first day of December next ensuing. 
The action of this meeting is attested by Ebenezer Allen, town 
clerk. 

The road of which mention is made in the following present- 
ment before the Court of Sessions was probably a part of the 
Lexington road before mentioned. This road over Lamson's 
Hill has no longer any existence. It was a narrow rod-wide 
road, running from the meeting-house past Richardson's farm- 
house, formerly the dwelling of John Lamson, along the wall 
north-east through the meadow, over the hill now heavily wooded, 
still belonging in part to the Lamson estate, and coming out on 
the old road near house of Jesse Viles. It was over this road, 
still traceable, that Captain Samuel Lamson marched his com- 
pany to Concord on April 19, 1775. A part of this old road still 
has a wall on each side. 



THE OT.l) TOWN RECORDS 45 

At a meeting of the Selectmen of Weston with Justice Fullam, 
held in May, 1734, they addressed John Jones, one of the Sur- 
veyors of Highways, the following warrant, viz.: — 

- At a meeting of the Selectmen of the town, in order to appoint to 
the Surveyor of said town, their respective divisions or Districts of high- 
ways to amend and repair for this succeeding year, have appointed to 
you the Division and district as follows, viz, Begining at Needham line, 
near Nathaniel Dewing's, and along by John Hastings and Thomas 
Peirce into ye great country road near Mr. Williams. 2dly from Thomas 
Peirce to Needam line near the house of Josiah Upham and ye way from 
Thomas Peirce to ye run of water east of Colonel Fullam's barn, and 
from thence by Jonas Harrington's out into the way near BuUard's: and 
from Abel Allen's house out into ye Town way near Adam Smith's. 

The persons named with those of their families upward of sixteen 
years old are in proportion enjoined by law to work at high way belong- 
ing to your Division or District: 

Deacon John Parkhurst. Jonas Livermore. 

George Parkhurst. Thomas Peirce. 

Adam Smith. Joseph Lovel. 

Abel Allen. John Train. 

John Felch. Samuel Train. 

Nathaniel Felch. Nathaniel Dewing. 

Ebenezer Allen. Nathaniel Jennison. 

Benjamin Bullard. John Jennison. 

John Barnard. Jonas Harrington. 
Joseph Livermore. 



Weston, May 22, 1734. 



Benjamin Brown, y 

Ebenezer Allen, r Selectmen. 
John Jones, ^ 

Francis Fullam, Justice of Peace. 



This is the only allotment of surveyors to be found, and the 
above list remained in force until 1737, when a new one was 
drawn, but the names are not given. 

In 1738 the town was presented at the Court of Sessions for 
obstructions on the king's highway "leading from the INIeeting 
House to what is called the Concord road, and near a place called 



46 HISTORY OF WESTOxN 

Lamson's hill in Weston." Below will be found the statement of 
the case as appeared in the petition or presentment: — 

To the Sheriff of the County of Middlesex, his under sheriff or Deputy, 
Greeting, — 

Whereas before the Justices of His Majesty's Court of General Sessions 
of the Peace, begun and held at Charlestown in and for the County of 
Middlesex, aforesaid, on the second Tuesday of March last, the Grand 
Inquest for the body of the said County, did present that the King's 
Highway leading from Weston Meeting house to what is called Concord 
road in the County of Middlesex, aforesaid, then was and for the space 
of three months last past hath been, and still continues to be very much 
obstructed for the length of almost a quarter of a mile at and near a 
place called Lamson's hill in Weston, in the County aforesaid. It being 
there very steep, dangerous and full of great rocks so as renders it almost 
impassable for teams, and carts loaded, so that the same is and hath been 
for the time aforesaid a common nuisance, and yet like to continue so, 
and the said Grand Inquest further presents that it belongs to the In- 
habitants of the town of Weston, to repair, amend, and render the same 
passable for loaded teams, carts and horses &c, all which is in evil ex- 
ample to others and contrary to law as also to the Peace, Crown and 
dignity of our Lord the King. 

These are therefore in his Majesty's name to will and require you 
to summon the selectmen of the Town of Weston, aforesaid, to appear at 
the next Court of General Sessions of the peace to be holden at Cam- 
bridge within and for the County of Middlesex on the third Tuesday of 
May next, then and there to make answer to the said presentment and to 
abide and perform the judgment of the said Court that shall be given 
thereon: and you are likewise required to summon as witnesses for the 
King, John Walker, Deacon John Warren, Samuel Miller and Josiah 
Hobbs; hereof fail not and make return hereof under your hand, with 
your doings therein before the sitting of said Court. Dated at Charles- 
town the 14th day of April In the eleventh year of His Majesty's reign 
Anno Domini 1738. 

By order of Court. 

Thaddius Mason, Clerk. 

Middlesex, ss., April 29th, 1738. 
A true copy examined 



per Richard Foster, Jr., Sheriff. 



At a general town meeting of the freeholders and other inhabi- 
tants of Weston, qualified according to law to vote in town affairs, 
on the twelfth day of May, 1738, it was — 




THE REV. DR. FIELD MANSION, CENTRAL AVENUE. 

Built by Isaac Fi.ske in 1805, and became the property of Rev. Dr. Field in ISl.'), whose 
descendants still own and occupy it. 




Jill'. (.oi.DEN JlAl 



TA\J':J{\, CJi^NlHAL A\EMi:. 



Built in 1708 by Colonel Isaac Jones. The old .sisn of the (Golden Ball still exists. Its 
fame as a tavern lastctl eishty years. It was the headtiuarters of the local Tory element 
(hirint; the Revolution. The house is still owned and o<cui)ied by the descendants of Colonel 
Jones. 



THE OLD TOWN RECORDS 47 

Voted by said Town at said Meeting that they desire Francis Fullam, 
Esq., and Deacon Benjamin Brown to make answer to the presentment 
of the way over Lamson's hill, so called, at the next Court of General 
Sessions of the Peace to be holden at Cambridge on the 3d day of May 
current. 

A true copy taken off from Weston book of Records 

examined per Ebenezer Allen, Toum Clerk. 
May 19th, 1738. 

In August, 1744, the inhabitants or proprietors of tenements in 
the easterly part of Concord and the northerly part of Weston 
and the westerly part of Lexington petitioned 

His Excellency WiUiam Shirley, Captain General and Governor-in- 
chief in and over his Majesty's Province of the Massachusetts Bay in 
New England, to the Honourable his Majesty's Council, and the hon- 
ourable House of Representatives in General Court assembled at Boston 
August 10, 1744, That your Petitioners labour under great difficulties 
and inconveniences by reason of their distance from their respective 
places of publick Worship in said town; their families being many of 
them numerous, in the winter season more especially they have been 
obliged for many years past to promote and maintain the preaching of 
the word of God amongst them in a private House, or otherwise many 
of them must have been deprived of the great benefit thereof; your 
Petitioners have applied themselves to the said towns to consent that 
they should be set off from their respective Towns or otherwise to relieve 
them, both which they refused your Petitioners. Difficulties yet remain- 
ing, whereas your Petitioners have not where to go but to your Excellency 
and Honours for relief in the premises, We humbly pray this honourable 
Court will be pleased to take their case into your wise and serious Con- 
sideration and make them a precinct, and invest them with such priv- 
iledges as this honourable Court shall see fit, the bounds of the lands for 
which your Petitioners pray may be made a precinct, begins where the 
line between Sudbury and Concord goes over the Great river, so called, 
and so to run down said river to a brook running out of Well meadow, 
so called, from thence to the South easterly side of Walden Pond, so called, 
from thence to the South Westerly Corner of Daniel Brooks' land lying 
upon the South side of the Countj' road and then across the said road 
to the South West Corner of said Brooks' land upon the North side of said 
road from thence in a straight line to the North west Corner of said Brooks' 
meadow by a way leading to Brick Kiln Island, so called, and by said 
way to a small White oak tree at the North West Corner of said Brooks' 
field, upon said Island, from thence in a straight line to a small black 
oak tree at Bedford line in Timothy Wheeler's land near the end of a 



48 



HISTORY OF WESTON 



ditch, and by Bedford line to Concord corner, adjoining to Lexington, and 
from thence in a strait line to the Bridge in Concord road. Westerly of 
Thomas Nelson's house; thence to the top of a little hill eastward of 
Nehemiah Abbott's house, from thence to Waltham North west Corner 
including Ebenezer Cuttler's land, from thence to the South west Corner 
of John Bemis' land, from thence to the South east Corner of Concord, 
and from thence by Concord line to the place first mentioned, or by any 
other such bounds as the Court shall see meet, &c., &c. 



Ebenezer Hunt. 
Thomas Baker. 
Samuel Dakin. 
Joseph Parks. 
John Headley. 
Timothy Wesson. 
Benjamin Monroe. 
Jonathan Gore. 
Samuel Bond. 
Thomas Wheeler. 
Ephraim Flint. 
Joseph Peirce, Jr. 
Joseph Brooks, Jr. 
John Garfield. 
Ebenezer Cutler. 
Jonas Peirce. 



John Wright. 
Ambrose Tower. 
David Reed. 
Mary Conant. 
Nathan Brown. 
Edward Flint. 
Stephen Wesson. 
John Adams. 
Jon: Wellington. 
John Gore 
George Peirce. 
Joseph Brooks. 
Judah Clark. 
Amos Merriam. 
Joseph Peirce. 



Jeremiah Clark. 
Thomas Garfield, Jr. 
Benjamin Brown, Jr. 
Hannah Corey. 
Zebediah Smith. 
John White. 
Ebenezer Lamson. 
Joshua Brooks. 
Thomas Garfield. 
Benjamin Brown. 
James Brooks. 
Robert Gage. 
Ephraim Sagard. 
John Whitney. 
Benjamin Allen. 



The inhabitants of the south side of Weston seem to have had 
equal trouble with those of the north side in their travelling to 
and from the house of public worship. The petition for a new 
road leading to the meeting-house is preserved, but the names of 
the petitioners, with the exception of those of Jonathan Stimson 
and Ebenezer Allen, are torn off the existing copy. The follow- 
ing is the petition: — 

Weston, February 15, 174£. 
To THE Select Men of Weston, &c. 

The petition of us the subscribers humbly show that we labor under 
very great difficulty in travelling to and from the place of public wor- 
ship in said town by reason of the badness of some parts of the way, 
which we apprehend can never be made much better, as also by reason 
of the many great crooks and turns which are therein: wliich makes 
the way so much the longer for our petitioners to travel every Lord's 
day: Therefore your petitioners humbly pray the said selectmen would 
please to take our circumstances into your consideration and lay out a 



THE OLD TOWN RECORDS 49 

way through the land of Daniel Modub and James Stimson Jr. along 
under the westerly side of the great hill, and also through the lands be- 
longing to the heirs of George Parkhurst, deceased, and through the 
lands of the Reverend Mr. AVilliams and others across the meadow land 
to the meeting house: which will very much redress our difficulties in 
travelling morning and evening: and sundry of us which now cannot 
with any comfort do it may then go to their respective houses in the 
intervening season on the Lord's days: and your humble petitioners 
as in duty bound shall ever pray. 

The petition to the General Court, as seen above, was signed 
by fifty-six heads of families. It will be seen by these petitions 
of the inhabitants of what is now Lincoln that they were laboring 
under the same difficulties in their distance from meeting-house 
that caused the inhabitants of the Farmers' district to apply for 
separation from the Watertown precinct in 1695, and which was 
finally accomplished in 1698. As we have seen, the refusal of the 
Weston town officials to repair their roads communicating with 
Lincoln led to the petition to the Governor and General Court to 
be made into a separate precinct in 1744, which being granted in 
August, 1746, with the injunction that they serve the towns of 
Concord, Lexington, and Weston with copies of their petition, so 
that they may show cause, if any, why their prayer should not 
be granted, Weston made no objection to their being so set off. 
However, when the precinct of Lincoln applied to the General 
Court to be incorporated as a town, in 1754, — 

at a Town Meeting held in Weston April 11, 1754, it was voted: 

1. That the prayer of the Petitioners ought not to be granted because 
it included four families that have never belonged to said precinct of 
Lincoln, viz., Theophilus Mansfield, Benjamin Hager, John Binney, and 
Thomas Russell. 

2. Because the parties above named are unwilling to be set off, but 
choose rather to remain with the town of Weston. 

3. Voted that they consent that the other inhabitants of Weston in- 
cluded in said petition be set off as a Township with the following bounds. 

The bounds referred to are those before given. 

The discovery of an old document, the existence of which does 
not seem to be known in our day, is of great interest in the his- 
tory of the difficulties which seem to have beset both the north 



50 



HISTORY OF WESTON 



and south sections of the town upon the question of reaching the 
meeting-house on the Lord's Day, owing to the bad condition of 
the roads at all times, but particularly in winter. A scheme was 
set on foot on the north side of the town to have the meeting- 
house removed to the North Road, or Lancaster Turnpike. This 
petition was signed by forty-eight heads of families, and is suffi- 
ciently curious to warrant the whole story being inserted here. 
It certainly forms an episode known to few, if any, persons of 
the town at the present day. Here follow the names of those 
signing the petition on the north side of the town : — 



Ensign Joseph Livermore. 
Lieut: Josiah Livermore. 
Capt. Joseph Harrington. 
James Mirick. 
John Mirick. 
Joseph Woolson. 
Abraham Whitney. 
Nathaniel Goddard. 
William Smitli. 
Ebenezer Hammond. 
Nathan Upham. 
Jeremiah Whittemore. 
Ebenezer Hobbs. 
Josiah Hobbs. 
Elisha Warren. 
Nathaniel Livermore. 
Deacon Warren. 



John Warren. 
John Whitney. 
Joseph Whitney. 
Abijah Wheeler. 
Wid: Sarah Warren. 
Isaac Cory. 
William Whitney. 
Thomas Russell. 
Samuel Philips. 
Nathan Fiske. 
Braddyll Smith. 
Daniel Carter. 
Josh. Wellington. 
Isaac Hager. 
Shubal Childs. 
John Train. 



Isaac Gregory. 
Moses Jones. 
William Bond. 
Benjamin Bond. 
John Walker. 
John Hager. 
Nathaniel Walker. 
Nathaniel Allen. 
Edward Gearfield. 
Jonathan Stratton. 
John Lamson. 
Isaac Allen. 
Henry Spring. 
Jonas Allen. 
William Lawrance. 
John Bemis. 



It would seem that, to checkmate this movement for the re- 
moval of the church to the north side, a counter-movement was 
made on the south side. This south-side movement would seem 
to have been rather to serve the purpose of a check to the north 
rather than any desire that the church should be moved south. 
The list is signed by fifty -five heads of families. Rev. William 
Williams heads the south-side list: — 



Rev. William Williams. 
Col: Fullam. 
John Jones. 
Widow Train. 
Benjamin Harrington. 



Jonas Harrington. 
Josiah Colledge. 
Isaac Harrington. 
Nathaniel Jameson. 
Joseph Bigloe. 



Elisha Jones. 
Capt. Jones. 
Joseph Woolson. 
Thomas Flagg. 
Samuel Severns. 



THE OLD TOWN RECORDS 



51 



Jonas Harrington. 
Daniel Liverniore. 
Nathaniel Felcli. 
Ebenezer Allen. 
Abel Allen. 
John Allen. 
Ebenezer Allen. 
Adam Smith. 
Noah Shephard. 
Jonathan BuUard. 
Thomas Peirce. 
Joseph Lovell. 
John Hastings. 
Nathaniel Dewing. 



Jonathan Stimpson. 
Abraham Gale. 
James Stimson. 
William Smith, Jr. 
Jonathan Bigloe. 
Benjamin Bigloe. 
Nathaniel Bigloe. 
Joseph Norcross. 
Deacon Parkhurst. 
Joseph Parkhurst. 
Daniel Smith. 
Nathaniel Stimpson. 
Thomas Spring. 



William Upham. 
Abijah Upham. 
Thomas Upham. 
Abraham Gregory. 
Abraham Bigloe. 
Samuel Hunt. 
Francis Fullani. 
John Felch. 
David Allen. 
Benoni Flagg. 
Daniel Medub. 
George Harrington. 
William Buxten. 



Deacon Benjamin Brown writes the petitioners of the north 
side, where his lands lay, an able, well-reasoned letter, in which 
he gives his reasons for not signing their petition. (They had 
evidently been annoyed at his refusal to do so.) The letter is 
here inserted, since it explains the whole business fully, and is 
withal very interesting: — 

Dear and Honored Sirs, — I being yesterday closely questioned whether 
I had done justice to my opposing neighbours in joining with the peti- 
tioners, I freely acknowledge that as I profess to be a Christian I am 
under obligation to render a reason of my conduct to every man that does 
soberly ask it of me: and soever I was not joyned with you formerly: 
what was then my reluctance was 1, I thought that in as much as the 
meeting house was sot near the middle of the town that if we on the 
north should get off the meeting house must be removed. 2d, That 
in as much as I had helped to build one meeting house and settle one 
minister &c., and had now my own family to take care of I might be 
excused as having done the work of my day. But what gave a turn 
to my mind was as to the first, it was told to me by a person over in 
the town: said he, if you do get off the meeting house will never be 
moved, for said he, those that remain on the North won't vote it away 
from them : and the Warrens corner and the Aliens corner, so called, will 
still remain at a considerable distance: and all they that are upon the 
great road can't be better on't and all that are at a convenient distance 
on the South they won't give a ponny to move it: and then you will 
find but a very few that will vote for moving it, and then besides if any 
should petition the General Court to move it they will find that if it 
should be moved it must go over on ye southerly side of a Great meadow 



52 HISTORY OF WESTON 

that lyeth in the way: and would said house be removed it would en- 
commode more of the remaining inhabitants than where it now standeth. 
Sly. My neighbours used these arguments with me: viz., that al- 
though I might possably travel so far myself: yet there were ten or eleven 
families of my neighbours that the nearest of them had near a mile farther 
to travel to meeting than I had: and some of them had no way at 
all to go to meeting and some of those that had: the way was so un- 
tollarable that at some times in the winter it was altogether impossible 
for a man to ride along either double or even single : the bushes and trees 
hanging down, being loaded with snow: besides the way being very rocky 
and mountainous: and that the town, although being often requested, 
had done nothing effectual for their help — and further they told me that 
when any thing of this nature was done it was necessary that some per- 
sons must do it themselves for the sake of others or else there could be 
no relief in such cases, which seemed to me were reasons that I was not 
able to gainsay: and which I hope will not be unseasonable for me at 
this time to offer. 

Your much obliged and humble servant, 

Benja. Brown. 
Weston, April 23, 1746. 

It may prove interesting to see the invoice, as it was then 
called, or the tax list of the inliabitants of Weston in the year 
of its incorporation as a town. While many of the names are 
those of persons who were then residents of Weston, but are no 
longer on our tax lists, and many more are those of persons now 
belonging to the town of Lincoln, still there remain on the list 
the names of many families now with us. 

The Tax Rate in Weston in 1712. 

£ 

Captain Jones 1 

Captain FuUam 1 

Mr. WooUson 1 

Corporal Benjamin Harrington 1 

Joseph Livermore 

Lieutenant John Livermore 1 

Joseph Wollson 1 

Ebenezer Hunt 

Nathaniel Whitney 

William Whitney 

Samuel Whitney 



s. 
6 


pee. 
3 


6 


3 








7 


9 


15 


9 


U 











10 


6 


10 


6 


16 


8 


10 


6 



THE OLD TOWN RECORDS 53 

Richard Robins 18 3 

Daniel Warren 1 16 6 

Joshua Biglo 17 9 

Joseph Abbott 1 11 6 

Joseph Allen 1 16 10 

Simon Tozer .... 12 7 

Joseph Diuin 17 9 

Abbot Allen 1 14 8 

Samuel Jones 1 11 5 

Corporal Benjamin Allen 1 14 9 

Nathaniel Jones 1 10 6 

Michael Falshaw 18 2 

Samuel Philips 10 

James Biglo 10 

James Jones 1 16 4 

Benjamin Bullard 19 3 

Daniel Livermore 19 8 

Thomas Fladge [Flagg] 1 17 4 

Joseph Whitney 17 

Jonathan Stimpson 1 11 

Isaack Madob [Modock] 12 3 

Ensign Josiah Jones 2 3 3 

John Smith 1 2 10 

Thomas Spring 1 11 5 

John Parkhurst 1 16 10 

Nathaniel Coolidge 1 11 10 

Abolm. Allen 1 1 6 

Samuel Jones 15 9 

Corporal Benjamin Allen 1 1 

Nathaniel Jones 15 9 

Michael Falshaw 7 3 

Samuel Philips 10 

James Biglo 9 6 

James Jones 12 5 

Benjamin Bullard 10 6 

Daniel Livermore 10 6 

Thomas Fladg [Flagg] 1 1 

Joseph Whitney 10 6 

Jonathan Stimson 4 

Isaac Madoc 10 6 

Samuel Robins 10 6 

Ensign Josiah Jones 1 1 

John Smith 12 7 

Thomas Spring 1 1 5 

John Parkhurst 1 1 



54 HISTORY OF WESTON 

Nathaniel Coolidge 

Richard Norcross 1 

John Wellington 1 

Benjamin Brown 1 

Thomas Gearfield 1 

Benoni Gearfield 1 

Benjamin Gearfield 1 

John Warren Jr 1 

Charles Chadwick 

John Wright 

Joseph Wright 1 

Jacob Piori 1 

Thomas Waight 1 

William Fisk 

Lieutenant John Brown 2 

Jonathan BuUard 1 

Jonathan Bullard Jr 1 

Joseph Bullard 1 

Joseph Lovewell [Lovell] 1 

Richard Norcross 

John Wellington 1 

Benjamin Brown 

Thomas Gearfield 

Benoni Gearfield 1 

Benjamin Gearfield 1 

John Warren Jr 

Charles Chadwick 

John Waight 

Joseph Waight 

Jacob Piori 

Thomas Waight 1 

William Fisk 

Lieutenant John Brown 1 

Jonathan Bullard 1 

Jonathan Bullard Jr 1 

Joseph Bullard 

Joseph Lovwell 

Francis Pirrico 1 

Daniel Madob Jr 

James Stimpson 1 

Samuel Gonorans 1 

George Robinson 1 

John Jones 

Daniel Estabrook 1 

Caleb Grant 1 



13 





4 





11 


5 


3 


7 


2 


2 


12 


3 


8 





14 


5 


19 


7 


16 


8 


14 


6 





4 


16 


2 


17 


5 


14 


9 


7 


9 


17 


4 


4 





3 





10 


6 


1 





5 


9 


1 





8 





17 


3 


12 





16 


8 


10 


6 


10 


6 


1 





5 


5 


8 


3 


7 


9 


1 





15 


9 


11 


6 


2 


7 


12 


3 


17 


11 


2 


10 


13 


11 


11 


6 


13 


3 


1 


4 



THE OLD TOWN RECORDS 55 

Joseph Pierce 6 8 

Samuel Lov 1 

Jonathan Biglo 1 

John Mixor 1 

John Sawin 1 

Ebenezer Allen 

Daniel Madob 

Richard Parks 

Thomas Woolson Jr 

Corporal John Warren 1 

Benjamin Harrington 1 

George Robinson 1 

Capt. John Warren 1 

Benjamin Harrington 

Thomas WoUson 

Richard Parks 

John Sawin 1 

Samuel Love 

Caleb Grant 



8 


G 


2 


7 


10 





14 


9 


19 


7 


9 


7 


13 


4 


12 


7 


4 


1 


2 


7 


1 





4 





14 


3 


6 


4 


13 





1 





15 


9 


10 


8 



Thrifty Finance of ye Fathers (Rates, Taxes, 
Bounties, etc.)- 

The Narragansett townships were grants by the General Court 
to each county of the State, divided among the several towns by 
lot. These grants of land were by way of payment and gratuities 
to the soldiers of the crown in previous Indian wars. The Mid- 
dlesex grants and several divisions were made about 1734. There 
were six townships, or allotments. Weston and Sudbury drew 
Township No. 2. The loss of records of the town prevent any 
full or interesting account of the part Weston had in this town- 
ship (now Westminster). In 1737 John Sawin, of Natick, drew 
his father's, Francis Sawin's, lot in No. 2. John, Thomas, and 
Manning Sawin owned a part of the Livermore farm in Weston, 
afterwards sold to John Train. The only documentary evidence 
of the part Weston took in Township No. 2 bears date of June, 
1736, when Mr. Abijah Upham is appointed collector of the 
Narragansett grantors, originally of Weston, with orders to collect 
the sum of five pounds on each lot or right in said township for 
the encouragement of settlers. The following names are those of 
proprietors belonging to Weston: — 

Ebenezer Boynton, Lot No. 51. Drawn by Deacon Brown, £5. 
Onesiphorus Pike, Lot No. 81. Drawn by Benj: Robbins, £5. 
Thomas Cory, Lot No. 44. Drawn by Ebenezer Cory, £5. 
Nathaniel Norcross, Lot No. 37. Drawn by Nathaniel Noreross, £5. 
Daniel Warren, Lot No. 34. Drawn by Daniel Warren, £5. 

A total of £25. This is signed by Joseph Bowman, Richard 
Foster, Jr., and Benjamin Brown as assessors. 

Newton would seem to have also been included in Township 
No. 2, as a list was addressed to Edward Jackson, as collector 
of that town. 

The following letter from Rev. Elisha Marsh, settled over 
Township No. 2, has a pathos about it that makes it worthy of 



THRIFTY FINANCE OF YE FATHERS 57 

being entered here. Judging from his statement of his condition 
for want of his sahiry, unpaid for years back, it would appear 
that the settlers or the grantors were deficient in religious zeal, 
or perhaps the distance which separated them rendered them 
somewhat careless in their treatment of him. The letter, how- 
ever, speaks for itself: — 

Narragansett, No. 2: Deer. 30th, 1737 (?). 
Mr. Brown, 

When I was down last I desired Mr. Cooke to acquaint the Committee 
of my request, which was that there might be a Proprietors' meeting called 
as soon as possible, and see whether they would make my sallary good, 
according to contract, that I might know what to depend upon. Sir, 
you can't but know that since my settlement, everything of the necces- 
saries of life is almost if not quite doubled and I can't possibly live unless 
I have my sallary: and have it paid when it is due to me. but instead 
of that I am greatly injured and abused either by the Committee or 
the Clerk or Proprietors or all of them. Dear, how do you and the rest 
of the Committee think I can live without my just dues from the Pro- 
prietors, when by reason of the war I have not been able to raise my 
provisions but must buy all, this present year, but pay which way 
without money.'* I have not received all of my fourth year's salary yet 
by considerable, and not one penny of the fifth, and you know how far 
the sixth year is advanced. This is in my opinion, and I think must in 
all honest people be looked upon wrong and oppressive, the wise man 
tells us the ringing of the nose brings forth blood, and opression will 
make a wise man mad. If there is not a meeting called immediately 
and I am paid of what is my due, and I have my full sallary I must be 
obliged to take some other measures. Pray don't oblige me to it, by the 
Committee neglecting their duty. Let a meeting be called directly 
and you will oblige your sincere and abused friend and servant. 

Elisha Marsh. 

In 1738 appears the following bill for building the meeting-house 
at Township No. 2, now Westminster: — 



58 



HISTORY OF WESTON 



The Proprietors for Building the Meeting House. 

1738. 



Dr 

1738. 

To Building the House 
" Sundry Articles Do 



£365:0:0 
1:10:0 

£366:10:0 



July 5. By Cash . 
Sept. 8. By Cash . 
Dec. 20. " " . 
1739 
June 6. 

Oct 31. " " . 
Nov. 9. " " . 
By Paid John Wood 

Glazier 
by Mr. Joseph 

Lynd 
1740 



£54: 
50: 
30: 

45: 
15: 
15: 



Cr. 

0:0 
0:0 
0:0 

0:0 
0:0 
0:0 



6:0:0 



May 17. 
July 2. 
Sept. 24. 
1741 
June 10. 



By Cash 



35 
30 
60 



:0:0 
:0:0 
:0:0 



26: 10:0 
£366:10:0 



It is to be hoped this is only a copy, although it has all the 
character of an original bill. It is not, however, receipted, which 
perhaps was not necessary. In 1744 appears the following account 
of the Proprietors' Standing Committee, by which we see they 
began to pay up some part of poor Mr. Marsh's salary: — 

The Standing Committee for the Proprietors of the Narraganset 
Township No. 2 who were appointed to inspect their Treasurer's accounts 
(viz. Mr. Daniel Cook), and to lay them before the Proprietors, as also 
to call to account such as had before neglected to account with the 
former Committee, do now report thereon, as followeth, viz., that the 
Balance of the former acct. due the Proprietors September 

17th 1744 was the sum of £359:13:10 

and that upon Sept. 19, 1744 the proprietors at their General 
Meeting granted a Tax of one pound, new Tenor to be 
laid upon each rate, which amounts to the sum of — in 

old Tenor— 472:0:0 

also on said day granted the Ilevd. Mr. Marsh his second 
year's sallery, viz., forty-five pounds. Current money: 

which in old Tenor amounts to 180:0:0 

Also on said day they granted the Revd. Mr. Marsh his third 
year's sallary, viz., £45: Current money, which in old 

Tenor amounts to 180: 0: 

Total £1191:13:10 



THRIFTY FINANCE OF YE FATHERS 59 

Mr. Benjamin Brown, of Weston, seems to have been the prin- 
cipal manager of the township. His bills and accounts run from 
1736 to 1750, when he makes a general settlement with Mr. Cook, 
the treasurer of the proprietors. There exists a maj) of this 
township, with a list of all the grantees. Should it be found, it 
will appear in an appendix. 

Before leaving the period of the earliest history of Weston, it 
will be interesting to give a tax rate previous to the incorporation 
of the town, — that of 1708,- — by which we shall notice who were 
the inhabitants at that early period and the then rate of taxation. 
The province tax for the west precinct of Watertown, by assess- 
ment made September 17, 1708, by Benjamin Gearfield, Palsgrave 
Wellington, and John Warren, assessors, was £101 12.s'. of which 
sum £80 15s. Qd. was collected. It will be noticed that on all 
very old tax rates, or invoices, as they were called, there is a 
column set apart and styled "Faculty." This denotes that any 
person in the town having a "knack" at anything, or a faculty 
of trade wherewith he earned his livelihood, was supposed to be 
taxed thereon, probably very much in the sense of our present 
license. But, as it will be noticed that all under this head, 
even Captain Jones and Squire Fullam, confessed to no "Faculty," 
it is to be presumed that it was not insisted upon by the assessors. 
In all the rates that have been examined none have been found 
where a person has confessed to possessing any faculty for any- 
thing, and yet these old settlers had certainly one great faculty, — 
that, at least, of getting on in the world with a multitude of cir- 
cumstances of those early times which, to say the least, would 
be considered difficult to surpass in the present day. The habit 
of passing over or ignoring the disagreeable questions which asses- 
sors are apt to indulge in has been successfully handed down to 
our own day, with more or less success. Assessors of those early 
times were probably as disagreeable companions in the spring 
of the year as are those of the present epoch. 



60 



HISTORY OF WESTON 



The Provincial Tax Rates or Assessment made September 17, 1708, 
for the West Precinct. 



1 


1- 

03 


a 

8 

a 

l-H 


73 

.2 
■ft 

"3 




1 
3 


o 


o 

I 


i 
i 










h. 


£ 

1 


s. 
00 


£ 
6 


s. 
00 


£ 

7 


00 


£ 
00 


s. 




£ 


s. 


d. 




00 


Charles Chadwick. 




19 


7 




- 


- 


- 


- 


9 


- 


- 


- 


John Waight. 


_ 


16 


8 




2 


- 


12 


- 


7 


14 


- 


- 


Joseph Waight. 




4 


6 




1 


10 


9 


- 


5 


— 


- 




Jacob Pierce. 




- 


4 


- 


5 


10 


33 




16 


4 


- 


- 


Thomas Waight. 




16 


2 




- 


10 


3 


_ 


7 


10 


- 


- 


William Fisk. 


- 


17 


5 




7 


- 


42 


- 


18 


14 


- 


- 


Lt. John Bruer. 


2 


14 


9 




4 


- 


24 


- 


13 


12 


- 


- 


Jonathan Bullard. 




7 


9 




4 


- 


24 


- 


13 


_ 


- 


- 


Jonathan Bullard Jr. 




17 


4 




2 


10 


15 


- 


3 


18 


- 


- 


Joseph Bullard. 




4 


- 




1 


10 


9 


- 


8 


10 


- 


- 


Joseph Love well. 




3 







2 


- 


12 


- 


5 


- 


- 


- 


Francis Pierce. 




2 


7 




- 


- 


- 


- 


3 


- 


- 


- 


Daniel Modup Jr. 


- 


12 


3 




4 


- 


24 


- 


13 


16 


- 


- 


James Stimpson. 




17 


11 




2 


- 


12 


- 


5 


8 


- 


- 


Samuel Souverans. 




2 


10 




3 


10 


21 


- 


3 


_ 


- 


- 


Geo. Robinson. 




13 


11 




- 


- 


- 


- 


5 


10 


- 


- 


Geo. Robinson Jr. 




14 


- 




- 


- 


- 


- 


2 


- 


- 


- 


John Jones. 




11 


6 




3 


10 


21 


- 


10 


10 


- 


- 


Daniel Easterbrook. 




13 


3 




1 


- 


6 


- 


- 


8 


- 


- 


Caleb Grant. 




1 


4 




1 


10 


9 


- 


- 


- 


- 


- 


Joseph Pierce. 


- 


6 


8 




2 


10 


15 


- 


10 


- 


- 


- 


Samuel Lov. 




8 


6 




1 


10 


9 


- 


7 


18 


- 


- 


Jonathan Biglo. 




2 


7 




3 


- 


18 


- 


8 


18 


- 


- 


John Mixor. 




10 


- 




3 


10 


21 


- 


12 


10 


- 


- 


John Sawin. 




14 


9 




1 


- 


6 


- 


7 


6 


- 


- 


Ebenezer Allen. 


- 


19 


7 




2 


- 


12 


- 


1 


10 


- 


- 


Daniel Modup. 


- 


9 


7 




3 


- 


18 


- 


- 


- 


- 


- 


Richard Parks. 


- 


13 


4 




- 


- 


- 


- 


3 


10 


- 


- 


Thomas Woolson Jr. 


- 


12 


7 




1 


10 


9 


- 


10 


10 


- 


- 


Corp. J. Warren. 


1 


4 


1 




2 


10 


15 


- 


2 


- 


- 


- 


Ben: Harrington. 


1 


2 


7 




- 


- 


- 


- 


- 


- 


- 


— 


Nathl. Brown. 


- 


10 


- 




- 


- 


- 


- 


- 


- 


- 


- 


James Bassford. 


- 


10 


- 




4 


- 


24 


- 


12 


18 


- 


- 


Capt. Jones. 


1 


17 


4 




5 


10 


33 


- 


17 


16 


- 


- 


Capt. F. Fullam. 


2 


7 


6 


- 


4 


10 


27 


- 


17 


14 


4 


- 


Thomas Woolson. 


1 


15 


11 


- 


4 


- 


24 


- 


13 


12 


- 


- 


Corp. B. Harrington. 


1 


7 


9 


- 


3 


10 


21 


- 


9 


16 


- 


- 


Jos: Liver more. 


1 


2 


8 


1 


10 


- 


60 


- 


16 


- 


4 


- 


Lt. J. Livermore. 


3 


9 


3 


_ 


4 


_ 


24 


- 


12 


2 


- 


- 


Jos: Woolson. 


1 


6 


8 




3 


- 


18 


- 


- 


- 


- 


- 


Ebenr Hunt. 


- 


13 


4 




4 


- 


24 


- 


9 


2 


- 


- 


Wm. Whiting. 


1 


14 


6 




- 


- • 


- 


- 


9 


- 


- 


- 


Wm. Whiting. 


- 


16 


8 




- 


- 


- 


- 


2 


- 


- 


- 


Saml. Whiting. 


- 


11 


6 




1 


- 


6 


- 


5 


- 


- 


- 


Richd. Bobbins. 


- 


18 


2 


2 


4 


10 


27 


- 


20 


12 


- 


- 


Daniel ^Var^en. 


2 


15 


2 


1 


3 


10 


21 


~ 


10 


18 


~ 


~ 


Joshua Biglo. 


1 


13 


8 



THRIFTY FINANCE OF YE FATHERS 



61 



OQ 

■s 

a 
h. 

2 

2 


>> 

S 

£ 

3 

4 
2 
1 
3 
3 
3 
2 
1 

4 

; 

4 
1 
3 

1 
5 

2 
3 
4 
3 
2 
3 
1 
1 
3 
2 
3 


1 

10 

10 
10 

10 
10 

10 
10 

10 
10 


1 

£ 

18 
24 
12 

6 
21 
18 
21 
15 

6 

24 
9 
9 

24 

6 

18 

6 
30 
12 
18 
24 
18 
12 
18 
9 
9 
18 
15 
21 


1 
s. 


o 

•3 

£ 

12 

12 

7 

4 

12 
10 
12 
12 
5 

11 
3 
5 

12 
3 

10 
3 
5 

14 
5 

11 

12 

11 
6 

10 
9 
7 

12 
9 

12 


o 
o 

CO 

s. 

8 
8 
18 
10 
8 
18 
16 
16 

14 
10 

18 
10 
10 

8 
18 

8 
10 

8 
14 
18 
18 

8 
10 

8 

8 
16 


u 

O 
a 

S 
H 

£ 


o 

5. 



J. Allen Senr. 
Joseph Allen. 
Simon Tozer. 
Joseph Doan. 
Abel Allen. 
Saml. Jones. 
Corp. B. Allen. 
Nathl. Jones. 
Michael Falghaw. 
Saml. Philipps. 
James Biglo. 
James Jones. 
Benj: Bullard. 
Daniel Liensmouth. 
Thomas Flagg. 
Joseph Whiting. 
Jonathan Stirapson. 
Isaac Modup. 
Saml. Robbing. 
En: Josiah Jones. 
John Smith. 
Thomas Spring. 
John Parkhurst. 
Nathl. Coolidge. 
Richd. Norcross. 
John Wellington. 
Benj: Brown. 
Thomas Garfield. 
Benoni Gearfield. 
Benj: Gearfield. 
John Warren Jr. 



6 
10 
9 
9 
8 
5 
9 
6 
2 



10 
9 
10 
11 
1 
5 
7 
2 
3 



To Benjamin Brown, Constable of Watertown, this is your part of 
the Province Tax, for you to collect and pay, according to your Directions 
in the Treasurer's Warrant and amounting to the Sum of £101 I'is. 



Benj: Gearfield, 
Palsgrave Wellington, 
John Warren, 



Assessors 

for 
IVatertown. 



62 HISTORY OF WESTON 

The country hereabouts must have been infested at an early 
period with noxious animals, among these squirrels and blackbirds, 
probably to the great injury of the crops. A record exists cover- 
ing several years, beginning in 1731 (but probably earlier records 
existed), where bounties were paid by the town for the killing 
of all such animals. In 1731 £7 195. 4d. was paid; another year, 
£14 4s. 8d.; and again £11 lis. lOd. The statutes provided that 
towns might pay a bounty for the killing of wolves, crows, squir- 
rels, and other wild animals, and all birds that were destructive 
of crops. The bounty for killing crows in the months of April, 
May, and June varied in different years. Twenty-five cents was 
paid for old crows, and half that for young ones, and half a cent 
for red-winged blackbirds. Swine and cattle were allowed to go 
at large in this and most towns of this State from a very early 
period and down to our own day. The nuisance was not abated 
here until late in the '40's. The law regulating the going at 
large of swine was never enforced in Weston, so far as the records 
show. The law stated that they should be properly yoked and 
ringed, and further set forth "that no yoke shall be accounted 
sufficient which is not the full depth of the swine's neck above 
the neck, and half as much below the neck: and the sole or bottom 
of the yoke to be three times so long as the breadth or thickness 
of the swine's neck." The standing complaint in Weston regard- 
ing animals going at large was the damage done by horses, which 
in early days got their principal feed in the roads and in the 
gardens of the inhabitants. 

Following is one of the old accounts of the town relating to 
aforesaid bounties: — 




THE OLD FLAGG TAVERN, CENTRAL AVENUE. 

Here General Washington, when President, passed a night on his way to Boston. 
Here, too. President John Adams stopped. This tavern was for many years the principal 
stopping-place for the Now York mail-coaches. It was destroyed by fire November 6, 1902. 




THE OLD MARSHALL HOU.SE, CHl'RCH STREET. 

Confiscated by the government after the War of the Revolution, and later bought by 
Colonel Thomas Marshall, great-uncle of General James F. B. Marshall, who, after .service 
in the Hcvolutionary War, came here to live. It was later owned by William M. Roberts, 
who in l.S(;7 sold it to General Charles J. Paine. In 1882 it was moved from its former 
location on Highland Street to its present site on Church Street by Charles ]]. Fiske, who 
now owns and occupies it. 



THRIFTY FINANCE OF YE FATHERS 



63 



Payment made in 1742 Old and Young £11: II: 10. 







Old 


Young 






Squirrels. 


Black 
Birds. 


Black 
Birds. 


Other Animals. 


Jonas Cutter 


8 


2 






Enoch Garfield 


7/3 


5 


- 


1 Grey Squirrel 


Timothy Brown 


5/3 


1 


4/3 


4 " 


John Gore 


2 


3 


- 




Joseph Brown 


4 


3/3 


- 




Thomas Cory 


13 


6 


- 




James Brown 


- 


5 


1 




B. Munnimont 


9/12 


2/8 


7 




John Jackson 


3 


- 


- 


3 young greys 


Jonathan Corey 


6 


2 


2/4 




Benjamin Corey 


1/5 


4 


- 




D. Fletcher 


38/7 


10 


1 


10 young squirrels 


J. Hoadley 


43/42 


1/4 


- 




B. Monroe 


20/4 


5 


- 




Joseph Brooks 


15 


5 


4 




Elisha Cutter 


5/48 


5 


- 




J. Wellington 


4 


16/6 


- 




E. Corey 


1 


- 


- 




Jonas Cutter 


6/15 


- 


4 


1 Jay 


J. Brooks 


8/14 


6/13 


- 




Timothy Brown 


32 


13 


3 




Benjamin Monroe 


42 


10 


8 




Joseph Brooks 


55 


34 


18 





The military company of Weston was in active duty in 1710. 
In the diary of the clerk of the company at that time he makes 
charges on the several training-days of two shillings for the drum- 
mers' dinners, and enters the following fines of the rank and file 
for non-attendance at drills and training-days, viz.: — 

July 12, 1710. Received of Thomas Flagg a fine of 3*. 
July 15, 1710. Received of Joseph Whitney a fine of 3^. 
August 9, 1710. Received of Isaac Modob a fine of 10*. 
August 9, 1710. Received of Saml. Severance a fine of 5s. 
August 9, 1710. Received of Thomas Flagg a fine of 5*. 
October 16, 1710. Received of James Jones a fine of 5s. 
October 16, 1710. Received of Benj : BuUard a fine of 5s. 

These accounts run from 1710 to 1718, when he resigns and 
passes all funds in his possession into the hands of Captain 
Fullam. In the same book is a charge for making town rates 
for the year 1707, — six days' labor, twelve shillings. This assessor 
should have lived in our days, and charged one hundred dollars. 



64 HISTORY OF WESTON 

His duties were more arduous, probably, considering the times 
in which he lived, much more so than at the present time, at 
least judging from the labors of the committee chosen in town 
meeting to collect the minister's salary. This committee un- 
doubtedly found it very hard work, for we find on Amos Lam- 
son's ledger sundry charges to this committee for rum, brandy, 
crackers, and cheese, which attest the difficulty they labored 
under in performing their task. 

As has been stated in a previous chapter, great precautions 
were taken by the town officials, from a very early date, that 
no persons should be allowed to remain within the town limits 
who were likely to become a town charge. All persons har- 
boring such persons were liable to a fine, besides which they 
became responsible for the costs attending their future care. 
Heads of families were obliged to give notice to the Selectmen 
of all these unfortunates in their employ, giving their place of 
birth and the period of their stay. Our records are full under 
this head from 1756 to the period of the Revolution. And even 
in our own day great precautions are still taken that strangers 
from other towns shall not come on the town for support. The 
following were warned and cautioned out of town: — 

1756. Bathsheba Moulton, Jonathan Knight, Christopher Capen, and 

Mary Priest. 

1757. Jonas Bowman, Mary Chubb, Silence Chubb, and Samuel Good- 
ing and wife, from Waltham. 

1771. Nathaniel and Lois Parkhurst, wife and daughter, from Waltham. 
Jacob Bull, wife and six children, from Cambridge. 
Susannah Gage and daughter from Lincoln. 
Lucy Jones from Worcester. 

Percival Clark, Abijah Hurd and M. Willard from Newton. 
Jedediah White, wife and six children, from Watertown. 
Reuben Shed from Billerica. 
Jeremiah Goodnow, wife and four children, from Marlboro. 

And so on. The record book of these warnings is quite full. 
It is said that such poor folk were sent out from certain towns 
to other localities to be rid of them, and in the hope that they 
might gain a foothold somewhere. 



THRIFTY FINANCE OF YE FATHERS 



65 



Here is another item from the old records which may prove 
interesting; namely, a table showing date of the erection of 
some of the early houses in Weston. It is taken from the Natick 
Historical Records by Horace Mann, Esq., and concerns the 
houses of: — 



Nemiah Williams, 1749 
Adam Betty, 1757 
Danl. Parks, 1750 
William Keny, 1754 
William Tenny {?), 1750 
Timothy Bemis, 1765 
Joseph Underwood, 1748 

(later of Nicholas Boylston) 
Saml. Child, 1749 
John and Saml. Train, 1738 
Joshua Train, 1740 
William Train, 1747 
James Stimpson, 1756 
Samuel Stimpson, 1761 
Saml. Jenison, 1754 
Nathan Fiske, 1760 



Thaddeus Spring, 1760 
Jonathan Spring, 1764 
Tho: and Epm. Peirce, 1766 
Danl. Wyman, 1740 
Saml. Severence, 1741 
Josiah Coolidge, 1758 

(this is the Schwartz house) 
Josiah Smith, 1757 
James Livermore, 1750 
Saml. Livermore, 1757 

(this is the Albert Hobbs house) 
Abraham Gale, 1751 
Abraham Jones, 1765 
Isaac Jones, 1752 

(Golden Ball Tavern) 
William Upham, 1760 



The old house which stood where now is located the Richardson 
farm-house was erected by John Lamson, who came from Reading 
to Weston in the early years of the eighteenth century. It was 
probably one of the oldest houses near the centre of the town. 
The barn, built probably at the same time as the house, was in 
perfect preservation when taken down by Mr. Cutter, and the 
oak timbers of it were used in the new house now occupied by 
Mr. Richardson. 



As the custom existed for so many years throughout our country 
of binding out to apprenticeship (for the purpose of learning a 
trade) boys averaging the age of twelve or fourteen, usually 
until they reached the age of twenty-one, it will not be amiss 
to give here the indenture made between Benjamin Brown, Jr., 
and Isaac Hobbs, of Weston, in 1762. It is perhaps useless to 
add in this our day of progress that the boys of this early 
period started out to make their way well equipped in the knowl- 
edge of some trade which rendered them independent in a great 



66 HISTORY OF WESTON 

measure of the vicissitudes of life. It is a question whether 
higher education has in every respect placed the rising generation 
in as favorable a position (taking our young people as a whole) 
to win their pathway upward and prevail. 

This Indenture Witnesseth that I Benjamin Brown Jr. of Lincoln in the 
County of Middlesex, a minor, Hath put himself, and by these presents 
doth voluntarily, and of his own free will and accord, and with the con- 
sent of his father Benjamin Brown aforesaid, put and bind himself Ap- 
prentice to Isaac Hobbs and Mary his wife of Weston in the County 
aforesaid, to learn tanning and curreing Art, Trade or Mystery, and with 
the said Isaac & Mary Hobbs after the Manner of an Apprentice, to 
serve from the 16th day of January a.d. 1762 for and during the term of 
five years and two months, to be complete and ended: During all which 
term the said Apprentice the said Isaac Hobbs faithfully shall serve, his 
secrets keep, his lawful commands gladly everywhere obey; he shall 
do no damage to the said Isaac Hobbs nor see it to be done of others, 
without letting or giving Notice thereof to the said Isaac Hobbs, he shall 
not waste the said Isaac Hobbs' goods, nor lend them unlawfully to any: 
he shall not commit Fornication, nor contract matrimony within the 
said term: At Cards, Dice, or any other unlawful game he shall not 
play, whereby his said master may have damage, with his own goods 
nor the goods of others: he shall not absent himself by day or by night 
from his said master's service without his leave; nor haunt alehouses. 
Taverns, or Play houses, but in all things behave himself as a faithful 
Apprentice ought to do towards his said master and mistress during the 
said term of five years and two months. And the said Isaac Hobbs doth 
hereby covenant and promise to teach and instruct, or cause to be taught 
and instructed in the Art, Trade, or calling of tanning and curreing by 
the best ways or means he may or can be taught, (if the said Appren- 
tice be capable to learn) finding unto the said Apprentice suitable meat, 
drink, washing and lodging (and also to be well instructed in reading, 
writing and cyphering, during the said term) : And at the expiration there- 
of to give unto the said Apprentice two good suits of apparrel for all parts 
of his body, one for Lord's days the other for common use — suitable for 
such an apprentice. In Testimony whereof the parties to these pres- 
ents have hereunto interchangeably set their hands and seals the 16th day 
of January in the 2d year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord, George the 
3d King of Great Britain, a.d. 1762. 



VI. 

Weston in the Revolution. 
1763-1775. 

The contest of the colonies with the English Parliament may 
be said to have begun soon after the peace of 1763, at which 
period the Indians were generally subdued. We have seen 
that the French and Indian Wars preceding this date had been 
excellent training-schools for our inhabitants. The ability of 
the colonies to defend themselves had been demonstrated, — and 
that, for the greater part, at their own expense, as whatever 
recompense they received from the British crown was rarely 
in money, but mostly in land grants, the Massachusetts troops 
being allotted lands in the remote sections of the State, then a 
wilderness. 

One thing had been thoroughly shown in these wars, and that 
was the incompetency of the British generals sent over to com- 
mand the troops in the subtle warfare of the Indian tribes. The 
American system of "bushwhacking" (a word that has become 
historical since the War of the Rebellion), at which the colonists 
had become adepts in their Indian experiences, was incompre- 
hensible to these foreign soldiers. Our colonists soon discovered 
that their own officers were better able to conduct military opera- 
tions and lead them to victory than the titled aristocrats of 
England. From all this it was but a step for them to discover 
their ability to maintain their independence of all foreign control. 
The wars that England had been called upon to sustain on the 
Continent for a quarter of a century had impoverished its treas- 
ury, and Parliament undertook to tax the colonies, and thereby 
in a short space of time succeeded in utterly alienating the people 
from the mother country. 

The Stamp Act of the year 1765 may be regarded as the begin- 
ning of our Revolution. Whatever previous Acts had been 
attempted in the way of taxation had not materially touched 



68 HISTORY OF WESTON 

the distant sections away from tide-water. The effect of the 
Stamp Act upon the agricultural population was necessarily in- 
significant, and the country towns were slow in responding to 
the stirring appeals of Samuel Adams and James Otis. A great 
gloom had settled over Massachusetts. The courts were closed 
and business was at a standstill. There is no record by which 
we can judge of the effect of the Stamp Act on Weston. Perhaps 
its influence may have been modified by the fact that a similar 
Act had been passed by the province of Massachusetts in the 
January session of the General Court in 1755, and possibly the 
English Act may not have had the influence with the people of 
the country towns it otherwise would have had but for this pre- 
vious tax. This Act of Massachusetts of 1755 may be found in 
Volume XIV. of the State Register of that year, together with 
a description of the stamps used at that period. To give an idea 
of the magnitude and importance of the Act of 1765: blank 
bail-bonds had been sold before the Act for £15 the ream; stamped 
bonds cost £100; a ream of insurance bonds or policies that for- 
merly cost £20 were under the Act to cost £190. The effect of 
this law was to cause the settlement of lawsuits and disputes 
by arbitration rather than through the medium of the courts. 

The only mention in the Weston town records of the Boston 
riots, which grew out of the Stamp Act, is found in the account 
of the November meeting of that year, when the town voted that 
Samuel Phillips Savage, Elisha Jones, and Captain John Brown 
should be a committee to draw up instructions to their representa- 
tive Abraham Bigelow in relation to these riots, and the com- 
mittee reported as follows: — 

The Town directs you to give your vote in the General Assembly to 
make full compensation to the late sufferers in the Town of Boston, 
by the rioters on the 27 day of August 1765, that they be paid out of 
the public Treasury: and that you also do your best endeavour that the 
same be replaced in the Treasury by action against the said rioters. 

The custom prevailed before the Revolution, and during a period 
somewhat later, for the inhabitants in town meeting, through- 
out New England, to draw up instructions for their representatives 
to follow at the General Court, regulating their action and their 



WESTON IN THE REVOLUTION 69 

votes on particular subjects of general interest. These instruc- 
tions were always obeyed, and it was not infrequently that the 
representatives were called upon to explain their action in certain 
cases before a town meeting. Such action on the part of towns 
has now become obsolete, and, in fact, would be universally 
resented to-day on the part of public servants. The town meet- 
ings are of purely New England origin, at least so far as this 
continent is concerned, and they have had more to do with the 
foundation of our institutions and government, both State and 
Federal, than has been sufficiently considered or credited to them.* 
With us here they were the outgrowth of the church assemblies 
and conferences. Our earliest records are those of the precincts, 
presided over by elders and governed by church regulations. 
No man could vote in precinct or town affairs, or be made a 
freeman, unless a member of the church in good standing. Town 
meetings originated here, at our own doors. They are the best 
examples of pure democracy that are left to us throughout New 
England. Nor do they vary essentially from what they were 
a century ago. All tax-payers had an equal voice in matters 
pertaining to public affairs. They voted their own taxes and all 
money for public purposes, and kept a keen eye on appropria- 
tions and expenditures. They held all town officers to a strict 
accountability in the performance of their respective duties. 
Massachusetts has never lost her attachment to this system 
of self-government, and it would be well if all the people could 
act upon its principles to-day as strictly as was formerly the case. 
The large increase in population has interfered in too many cases 
with the direct action of the people at large in public affairs. 
Political machinery has now intervened between the people and 
their purposes and responsibilities. The power once emanating 

* To the town meetings of New England more than to anything else are due the suprem- 
acy of the English in America and the failure of the French to hold their own during the 
long struggle for the possession of Canada. In the next and harder struggle, that for inde- 
pendence of Great Britain itself, the towns again had a decisive part. When Governor Ber- 
nard, the royal governor, obedient to his instructions from home, prorogued the Assembly, 
and left the province of Massachusetts without a legislature, the king and his ministers thought 
by this course they had deprived the patriots of their opportunity for concentrated action 
and that they could nip in the bud the incipient rebellion. And so it would have proved, had 
it not been for the town meetings, which were the real fountain of power, so that in place of 
one General Assembly the royal governor found he had to deal with two hundred or more local 
assemblies, small, indeed, for the most part, but self-reliant, aggressive, trained to the considera- 
tion of public affairs, and ready for action. 



70 HISTORY OF WESTON 

directly from the people has become a delegated power, and 
the party caucus now usurps the place once held by them. The 
rage for municipal government has become the fashion, and, in 
so far as this delegated power gains foothold, in that ratio the 
people lose their hold and their interest in town meetings. With- 
out these town meetings and the direct action which they had 
upon public affairs, it is doubtful if the Revolution would have 
been successful. The public spirit and love of freedom, together 
with the jealousy with which the charter rights of the colony 
were held and maintained, were the means by which men and 
money were provided to carry out the war, and which no action 
of the weak Provincial Congress could have accomplished. 
Middlesex County took the lead in all the preliminary acts that 
led up to the Revolution. To Samuel Adams and James Otis 
is due in great part the inspiration which gave nerve to the 
actions of the town meetings of that period. In this again we 
see the conservative influences of these town meetings. While 
the Boston leaders of the advocates of rebellion against the Acts 
of the British Parliament were sending out letters and broad- 
sides calling upon the towns to back them up in their daring 
attacks upon the existing royal government, the towns were 
backward in taking any hasty action. They calmly calculated 
the chances and costs. The Stamp Act, the Tea Party, and the 
Boston Massacre (or the mobs as some old heads, who should 
know better, now call the defensive acts of our forefathers) do 
not seem to have created any very marked rufile on the calm sur- 
face of the Weston town meetings. In fact, they are nowhere 
mentioned on the records. It required the march of the British 
regulars on Lexington and Concord to arouse the sleeping lion, 
who, when once thoroughly aroused, as was the case on the ever 
memorable 19th of April, never again drew in his claws until 
every shred of British and royal dominion had been torn to pieces, 
— to the regret, it would seem, of some of our latter-day historical 
oracles. In speaking of the famous Tea Party, we must not 
overlook two of our townsmen who figured on that occasion. 
Samuel Phillips Savage, of Weston, was made moderator of an 
adjourned meeting held in the Old South Church in Boston on 
December 14, 1773, called to consider the question of the intro- 



WESTON IX THE REVOLUTION 71 

duction of the tea into Boston. Mr. Savage continued as mod- 
erator of the meetings until the evening of the IGth, when the tea 
was steeped in the salt water of Boston Harbor. Samuel Hobbs, 
also of Weston, at work in Roxbury as a journeyman in Simeon 
Pratt's tannery, took part in throwing the tea overboard. 

The most important steps taken to arouse the dormant sense 
of the country towns to the coming storm was the action of Samuel 
Adams at Faneuil Hall in Boston on the 20th of November, 
1772, at which meeting was organized the famous Committee of 
Correspondence, the influence of which was to play so great a 
part in the plan of resistance. A letter was forwarded to the 
selectmen of the various towns, expressing a belief that the wisdom 
of the people would not "suffer them to doze or sit supinely 
indifferent, on the brink of destruction." In a few days many 
towns sent in their adhesion to the plan proposed. This Com- 
mittee of Correspondence was a sharp thorn in the side of the 
officers of the crown, and was particularly obnoxious to the 
Tory element. They looked upon it "as the foulest, subtilest, 
and most venomous serpent ever issued from the egg of sedition." 
This secret correspondence was not confined to Massachusetts 
or to New England, but spread throughout the neighboring and 
distant colonies, and became the means of uniting all the people 
of the continent. 

At a town meeting held in the month of March, 1773, Colonel 
Elisha Jones was elected to represent the town in the General 
Court for the following year. The Liberty Men of the town 
took umbrage at his election, as Colonel Jones was a strong and 
bitter Tory, and some of the most prominent among them drew 
up the following protest, which was sent to the House of Rep- 
resentatives : — 

To THE Honorable House of Representatives sitting at boston 
June 8th, 1773. 

Humbly shews the Subscribers, Inhabitants of Weston; That Hon*^'^ 
House after Declaring the late choice of a Representative in Weston 
to be illegable, ordered a Precept to issue to the Selectmen of said Town 
Directing them forthwith to assemble the Inhabitants thereof, in order 
to elect some person to Represent them, in the Present Session of the 
General Court, as well as the Remaining Sessions of the year, and the 



72 HISTORY OF ^l^ESTON 

said Selectmen were possessed of said Precept on the last day of May 
last, but have taken no other notice thereof than to propose a meeting 
of their own, some time about the middle of this month of June: Then 
to determine whether they will give the Town an opportunity to chose a 
member or not; which conduct of the Selectmen gives great uneasiness 
to the Inhabitants of Weston, as we are thereby deprived of the Priviledge 
of a Representative in the General Court, which other towns enjoy, and 
we esteem a priviledge which we desire to share in. Therefore we humbly 
pray that the Hon^'*^ House would take our circumstances into their 
wise consideration and releive us from such arbitrary proceedings, by 
directing the said Selectmen to appoint a meeting for the purpose afore- 
said. And also appoint some suitable, impartial gentleman to preside 
at said Meeting as in duty Bound will ever pray. 

[Sd] Jonathan Bullard Jacob Mirrick 

Isaac Jones Joseph Harrington Jr. 

Elisha Harrington Phinehas Upham 

John Flagg Samuel Train 

Jonathan Stratton Asa Smith 

William Lawrance John Mirick 

Jonas Sanderson Samuel Child 
Daniel Livermore 

Weston did not appoint a Committee of Correspondence until 
the town meeting of September 29, 1774, when Benjamin Peirce, 
Thomas Upham, and Samuel Baldwin were chosen such a com- 
mittee. Somewhat later a Committee of Public Safety w^as 
added to that of Correspondence. There is no record of the 
doings of the Weston Committee of Correspondence, if we except 
an entry in Force's Archives, vol. iii., 4th Series, where men- 
tion is made of a letter addressed by Benjamin Peirce to Rev. 
Asa Dunbar under date of September 8, 1775, in w-hich excep- 
tions are taken to remarks made by him in a sermon delivered 
on Fast Day. These remarks were distasteful to the Liberty 
Men, and against them they entered complaint.* xA.s there is 

* An occurrence took place in April, 1774, which displayed the courage and open avowal 
of resistance to the royal government. In 1722 the government, in order to render the judges 
of the Supreme Court independent of the people of the province, made provision for their 
being in future paid out of the royal exchequer. The power and dignity of this court as then 
conducted was very imposing, and raised it above the ordinary criticism with which the other 
branches of the government were discussed. In view of ths unlimited power of this court 
to fine and impri.son such as presumed to disturb the course of its proceedings, it is difficult 
to imagine the gravity of a measure which had for its purpose to assail one of its members, 
and that in the person of its chief justice. Chief Justice Oliver alone had accepted his salary 



WKSTOX IN THE REVOLUTION' 73 

no record of any ]\Ir. Dunbar among the clergy of this section, 
he was probably a stranger to the town.* At the town meeting 
of September 29 Captain Elisha Jones, being a Tory, was recalled 
as the representative of the town at the General Court, and Cap- 
tain Braddyll Smith was appointed in his place. 

At this meeting Josiah Smith and Samuel Phillips were ap- 
pointed to attend the Provincial Congress at Concord to be held 
October 2, and Captain Braddyll Smith was added to go with 
them. No instructions were given to their representatives at 
Concord. The session was, for a great part of the time, held in 
secret, and adjourned after three days to meet at Cambridge, 
October 17. The Congress at Cambridge lasted eleven days, 
and was presided over by John Hancock. It undertook to frame 
a form of government for the people, but to this Weston refused 
its consent. The Congress appointed a Committee of Public 
Safety, composed of nine persons, with power to call out the 
militia, if necessary; also a committee of five persons with power 
to procure cannon, muskets, and ammunition, and to provide stores 
for the troops that the Committee of Safety might call into 
service. They appointed five commanders of regiments, viz.: 
Jedediah Preble, of Falmouth; Artemas Ward, of Shrewsbury; 
Seth Pomeroy, of Northampton; John Thomas, of Marshfield; 
and William Heath, of Roxbury. 

The question has often been asked. By whom and by what 
authority were issued the commissions of general officers at 
the beginning of the Revolution.'' Previous to that period, 
commissions were issued by the secretary or deputy secretary 
and countersigned by the royal governor. The last commission 
under the crown to the Third Middlesex Regiment, appointing 
Nathan Barrett, of Concord, senior major of the regiment, 

from the crown, and in consequence had made himself the object of general odium. The 
term of the court was to be held in April, 1774, at Worcester. A panel of fifteen jurors at- 
tended. Instead of offering themselves, as usual, to be sworn as jurors, they handed the court 
a written protest, signed by them all, in which they refused to act as jurors if Chief Justice 
Oliver was to act as one of the judges, and they declare that " by his own confession he stands 
convicted, in the minds of the people, of a crime more heinous than any that might come before 
him." Fortunately, for some unknown reason, he did not attend the term of the court. 

* The editor of this posthumous history of Weston finds on a slip of paper in the manu- 
script the following note, presumably intended by Colonel Lamson to be inserted here: It 
is, however, known that a Rev. Asa Dunbar, of Salem, married Mary, a daughter of Colonel 
Elisha Jones, of Weston, October 22, 1772. 



74 HISTORY OF WESTON 

and dated February 14, 1776, is signed by Perez Morton, deputy 
secretary, and countersigned on the margin by the members 
of the council, beginning at the top of the commission. On 
the 3d of May, 1776, Major Barrett is made Heutenant-colonel 
of the same regiment, but there is no mention of King George 
in tliis commission. It is issued by a majority of the council, 
and signed by J. Avery, deputy secretary. This council was 
composed of the following persons: Joseph Powell, Artemas 
Ward, William Spooner, H. Gordon, Benjamin Austin, A. Fuller, 
T. W. Dana, Samuel Niles, Jos. Stimpson, John Pitts, Eleazer 
Brooks, Oliver Wendell, Oliver Prescott. 

The commission of 1781, making Francis Faulkner colonel 
of the Third Regiment, is dated July 1, 1781, and is issued by 
John Hancock, governor and commander-in-chief, countersigned 
by him and signed by the Secretary of State. 

The Congress of Cambridge elected Henry Gardner, of Stow, 
as treasurer and receiver-general, in place of Harrison Gray, who 
was treasurer under the crown. Orders were issued that all 
funds and taxes in the hands of collectors, throughout the province, 
should be paid over to Henry Gardner instead of being paid into 
the royal treasury. 

At a town meeting held January 2, 1775, John Allen, Israel 
Whittemore, and William Whitney were chosen a Committee of 
Inspection to enforce the non-importation agreement of 1770, 
and they were ordered to report the names of any or all persons 
who may have disobeyed the injunction. Tar and feathers 
were sure to follow any Tory disobedience of town-meeting 
ordinances. 

At this meeting it was ordered that £45 6^. 6d., which was 
Weston's proportion of the province tax for 1774, be paid by 
the town treasurer into the hands of Henry Gardner, Esq., 
and that he take his receipt in full for the same. The town 
also voted to hold their treasurer free from all personal liability 
in the matter. 

Colonel Braddyll Smith was again delegated to represent the 
town at the Provincial Congress to be held at Cambridge on 
February 1. The Middlesex County was represented by forty 
members. Congress adjourned to meet at Concord, March 22, 



WESTON IN THE REVOLUTION 75 

and continued its sessions in that town until April 15, four days 
before the British attack on the town.* 

As we approach the period of the battle of Concord, we find 
that the "Liberty Men" were wide-awake and watchful of all 
the movements of the British troops in Boston. A thorough 
system of information had been established by means of beacon 
lights and other effective means. This organization does not 
appear to have been established upon any given rules or by any 
body of leaders, either in Boston or elsewhere, but rather to have 
been the spontaneous action of the Liberty Men generally, and 
in each town, who passed the word of warning one to another. 
In fact, the acts of all suspicious persons were made known far 
and wide with a promptness which is surprising. Each Tory 
household was as carefully watched in the country towns as were 
the British in Boston, and to this is due the little aid the British 
general received from them. The Tories considered their lives and 
property at the mercy of the Liberty Men. This rendered them 
apprehensive and timid, discouraging them from taking part 
in the defence of the crown, which they otherwise would have 
been inclined to do. The Journal of John Howe, who was a ser- 
geant in the British army, relates the adventures of only one of 
three parties sent out over different routes by General Gage 
early in April, 1775, to discover what arms, ammunition, and 
provisions were in the hands of the rebels. Howe's Journal is 
particularly interesting to us of Weston, as the town played a 
conspicuous part in defeating the original plan of the British 
general. This was, namely, a movement of troops to secure the 
stores of the Continentals at Worcester. The spy's report was 
very unfavorable as to the possibility of reaching Worcester, 
the roads being unfit for transportation of artillery and, above all, 
dangerous in consequence of the general preparation of the people 
to repel an invasion. Howe's report was instrumental in chang- 
ing General Gage's original plan to attack Worcester, and at the 

* The records of the Secretary of State give the following account of the differont con- 
gresses. The first congress was held at Salem, October 7, 1774; then at Concord, October 
11, 1774, adjourned to October 15; at Cambridge, October 17, 1774, adjourned to December 
10; at Cambridge, February 1, 1775, adjourned to February 16; at Concord, March 22, 1775, 
adjourned to April 15; at Concord, April 22, 1775, adjourned to the same day; at Water- 
town, April 24, 1775, adjourned to May 29; at Watertown, May 31, 1775, adjourned to 
July 19. 



76 HISTORY OF WESTON 

last moment Concord was made the objective point. So much 
of Howe's Journal (printed by Luther Roby, Concord, N.H., 
1827), which is somewhat long, as has connection with Weston, 
is here given in condensed abstract: — 

On April 5, Howe was selected to accompany Colonel Smith who was to 
examine the road, bridges, and fording places and discover the best route 
to Worcester for an armed force to march and destroy the stores and am- 
munition deposited there. Howe goes on to state: We dressed our- 
selves as Countrymen, with grey coats [probably frocks], leather breeches, 
and blue mixed stockings, with flag handkerchiefs round our necks, a small 
bundle tied up in a homespun handkerchief in one hand and a walking 
stick in the other. Thus equipped we set out like' Countrymen to find 
work. At Watertown where we stopped at the tavern for breakfast, a 
negro woman recognized Colonel Smith, and when he asked her if she could 
tell him where he could find work, she looked him in the face, and said, 
"Smith, you will find employment enough for you and all General Gage's 
men in a few months." Smith was thunder-struck, my own feelings 
were not much better; the black woman had been living in Boston and 
had acted as washerwoman for the British officers, and thus recognized 
Smith. We travelled about one mile and found the road good: here 
we got over a wall out of sight to consult what was best to be done. It 
was not safe for Smith to continue on, he gave me his book, pencil and ten 
guineas and returned to Boston, leaving me to pursue the route. Smith 
said if he came out with his regiment over that road he would kill that 
black wench. He also told me if I got through all right he would insure 
me a Commission. The last I saw of him, he was running through the 
barbary bushes to keep out of sight. I found the road good to Waltham 
Plain. Here I pretended to be a gunsmith and was told to go to Spring- 
field, where they wanted guns, as they expected the regulars out of Bos- 
ton, and they meant to be ready for them. I took some rum and molasses, 
knowing it to be a Yankee drink. From the plain I found the roads 
hilly, stony and crooked for about three miles, when I came to a hollow 
with a narrow causeway over it [Stony Brook] ; here I left the road and 
went below to see if there was any place wliere our artillery could cross, 
but found none. I examined above and found it bad. Here I saw a 
negro setting traps: about ten feet from this narrow road stood the 
largest buttonwood tree I ever saw. The negro said that the people were 
going to cut it down to stop the regulars from crossing with their cannon. 
[This tree stood on the edge of tlielittk- pond near the house of Mr. Turner.] 
I asked him how they would know when the regulars were coming in 
time to cut the tree down. He said they had men all the time at Cam- 
bridge and Charlestown watching them. This tree would completely 
blockade the road. I asked the negro how far it was to a tavern; he 



WESTOxX IN THE REVOLUTION 77 

said a mile, by Weston Meeting house, and another half a mile above, 
the first kept by Joel Smith [now house of Mrs. John Jones], a good tavern 
and a good liberty man; the other was kept by Captain Isaac Jones, a 
wicked Tory, and said a good many British officers go there from Boston. 
I found the road to Smith's hilly, stony and crooked. Came to Smith's 
tavern, where two teamsters were tackling their teams. I asked them if 
they knew of any one who wanted to hire; one of them answered, he did 
not know of any body who wanted to hire an Englishman, for they be- 
lieved I was one : they said I looked like them rascals they see in Boston. I 
went into the house and asked for a drink of rum and molasses, one of the 
men followed me and told Smith he guessed I was a British spy. Smith 
questioned me very closely, where I was from and where I was going. 
He sent me to Captain Jones who kept a tavern at the sign of the Golden 
Ball. I handed Captain Jones a letter from General Gage. He took 
me by the hand and invited me up stairs. I informed him of all that had 
taken place since I left Boston: it being fourteen miles. He told me it 
would not do for me to stay at his house over night, for his house would 
be mobbed and I would be taken a prisoner. He gave me some dinner 
and sent me by his hired man to the house of one Wheaton in a remote 
part of the town, where I must remain, until he sent for me [the Dr. 
Wheaton house is now that of Mr. Ripley]. The man told Dr. Wheaton 
I was a British spy. I was conducted into a chamber, where I found a 
bottle of Brandy, candles and paper. I went to work to write up my 
journal. The next day Captain Jones' man came and told me that the 
news of what had occurred at Watertown between Col. Smith and the 
black woman had reached Captain Jones's in the night, by the same 
teamsters that had seen me at the Smith tavern. By eleven o'clock 
that night some thirty men had collected at the Jones tavern [with tar 
and feathers.] Capt. Jones gave them permission to search the house. 
The black girl told them some persons had been sent into Jericho swamp. 
After dinner Dr. Wheaton introduced me to his two daughters as a British 
officer in disguise and we played cards until tea time. That night Cap- 
tain Jones's man came to take me to Marlboro'. We came out on the 
road about a mile above Jones's on the Worcester road. I found the roads 
good to the Sudbury river, twenty-five miles from Boston. I examined 
the river for a fording place, should the bridge be destroyed, and found 
a fordable place in Framingham. We went to the house of Squire Barnes 
[Barnes had married Jones' daughter]. I gave him a letter from General 
Gage. He had already heard of the Watertown affair. I had also been 
seen examining the bridge over Sudbury river. Squire Barnes gave me 
an account of tlie militia and ammunition from Worcester to Weston. 
While we were talking, a knock came at the door. He told me if he did 
not return at once to make my escape out of the window and make 
for the swamp and go to Concord. When I leaped upon the shed, snow 



78 HISTORY OF WESTON 

having fallen, I fell to the ground on my back. Picking up my bundle 
and hat, I ran for the swamp. When I got away some distance, I looked 
back and could see lights dodging at every window. [The people were 
searching the house for him. Having got to Concord, he falls in with 
Major Buttrick and Major Parmenter, who invite him to dinner and then 
take him to the storehouses to see the guns, as he pretends to be a gun- 
smith. He examines closely the doors and locks of the storehouses, and 
sets off for Lexington on pretence of getting his tools. He reaches Boston 
on the 12th, and makes his report to General Gage, who takes his papers 
and gives him fifty guineas.] The General asked me how large an army 
it would take to get to Worcester and return safe. I told him if he should 
send 10,000 men and a train of artillery to Worcester, which is 48 miles, 
the inhabitants generally determined to be free or die, that not one of 
them would get back alive. Here Smith exclaimed, "Howe has been 
scared by the old women." Major Pitcairn said not by a negro wench 
anyway, which turned the laugh on Smith. The General asked what I 
thought of destroying the stores at Concord, only eighteen miles. I told 
him a force of 500 mounted men might go in the night and return safe, 
but to go with 1,000 foot, the greater part would be killed or taken. He 
asked me what I thought of the Tories. I told him they were generally 
cowards and no dependence was to be placed on them. — Howe was en- 
gaged on the 18th of April to carry letters to the Tories in Maiden, 
Lynn, and Marblehead. He arrived at Concord in the midst of the fight 
on the 19th, and was sent back to Boston for reinforcements.* 

Regardless of Howe's admonitions, General Gage sent out 
to Concord infantry instead of cavalry, and the result was not 
far different from that predicted by the spy. 

The news that the "British are coming!" passes from town to 
town with the speed of a modern telegram. Parson Woodward, 
of Weston, sends his family into the woods for safety, and they 
drive their cow with them. Mrs. Woodward seizes a skillet as 
she leaves the house, telling the children they may need it. The 
Weston company gathers at the house of Captain Samuel Lam- 
son, then situated where now stands the farm-house on the 
Richardson place, and Parson Woodward after a prayer takes 
his gun and falls into the ranks with the men. Numbering one 
hundred men and three officers, they strike for Concord over 
Lamson's Hill. On their way they meet a man on horseback, 
probably Howe, the spy, who tells them the British are driven 

* Mrs. E. T. Lamson, of Weston, mother of D. S. LamsoD, remembered seeing Mr. Howe 
when she was a young girl in Boston. — Ed. 




THE COBURN HOMESTEAD, CHURCH STREET. 

This estate came into the possession of Mr. Jonas Coburn in 1801. It was fornif-rly 
owned by Mr. Aaron Whittemore. For many years and until his death it was the home of 
Mr. Isaac Coburn, and is still owned by his descendants. 




THE OLD NATHAN IIAGAR HOUSE, NORTH AVENUE, CORNER OF 
CHURCH STREET. 

Built in 1786 by Deacon Isaac Holjbs, ,Ir., whose daughter married Nathan Hagar. 
Their descendants still own and occupy the house. Tlu; land has been in the possession of 
the same family for otic hundi'cd and eighty-three >-ears. 



WESTON IN THE REVOLUTION 



79 



out of Concord, and directs tliem to go through the woods to the 
Lexington road, where the company strike the retreating British 
and follow them to Charlestown. 



The Muster-roll of Captain Samuel Lamson's Militia Company." 



Captain 
Samuel Lamson 

Lieutenants. 
Jonathan Fiske . 
Mathew Hobbs . 

Sergeants. 
Josiah Steadman 
Josiah Seaverns . 
John Wright . . 
Abraham Hews . 



Corporals. 
Abijah Steadman 
Simeon Smith 



Drummer. 
Samuel Nutting . 

Privates. 
Nathan Hager . 
Jonathan Stratton 
Isaiah Bullard 
John Allen Jr . . 
John Warren Jr . 
Jonathan Warren 
Wm. Hobart . . 
Micah Warren . 
John Frost . . . 
Abijah Warren . 
Isaac Flagg . . . 
Isaac Walker . . 
Isaac Cory . . . 
James Jones . . 
Amos Jones . . 



Length of 
Service 
in Days. 



Length of 
Service 
in Days. 



David Sanderson . 
Abraham Harrington 
John Walker Jr . 
Saml. Underwood 
Eben Brackett 
Oliver Curtis . 
Josiah Corey . 
Reuben Hobbs 
Thomas Rand . 
Thomas Rand Jr 
Benjamin Rand 
Benjamin Peirce 
David Fuller . 
Saml. Child . . 
David Livermore 
Jonas Harrington 3d 
Jacob Parmenter 
Thomas Corey . 
Roger Bigelow . 
Elijah Kingsberry 
Jonas Underwood 
Convers Bigelow 
William Bigelow 
John Stimpson . 
Thomas Williams 
Increase Leadbetter 
Elisha Stratton . 
Isaac Hobbs . . 
Benjamin Bancroft 
Samuel Twitchell 
William Bond Jr 
John Flint . . . 
John Norcross. . 
William Cary . . 
John Bemis . . 



* The company marched from Weston under Lamson's command on the 19th of April, 
1775. See Lexington Alarm List, vol. xii. p. 170. 



80 



HISTORY OF WESTON 









Length of 


Length of 


Service 


Service 


in Days. 


in Days. 


Daniel Lawrence .... 3 John Gould .... 


. . 7 


Jedediah Bemis . . 






" John Lamson .... 


" 


Lemuel Stimpson . 






" Solomon Jones . . . 


(( 


Benjamin Dudley . 






" Phineas Hager . . . 


<c 


William Lawrance . 






" Paul Coolidge . . . 


<< 


Nathaniel Parkhurst 






" Samuel Taylor . . . 


>< 


Samuel Fiske . . . 






" Jos. Lovewell .... 


" 


Elias Bigelow . . . 






4 Peter Gary 


<< 


William Whitney . 






7 Thaddeus Fuller . . 


C( 


Abraham Sanderson 








' Joseph Peirce .... 


<< 


Samuel Train Jr . . 








' Samuel Woodward 


" 


Josiah Allen Jr . . 








Elijah Allen .... 


<( 


Daniel Benjamin . 








' Hezekiah Wyman . . 


(< 


Joseph Whitney . . 








' Ebenezer Steadman . 


(( 


Jos. Steadman . . 








* William Bond .... 


« 


Jonas Peirce . . . 








' Joel Smith 


" 


Nathaniel Boynton 








' Joseph Jennison . . . 


c< 


Eben Phillips . . . 








' Moses Peirce .... 


** 


Jedediah Wheeler . 








' Daniel Bemis .... 


cc 


Benjamin Peirce . . 








' Daniel Stratton . . . 


" 


John Peirce . . . 








' Amos Parkliurst . . 


«< 


William Jones . . 













Muster-roll of Captain 


Israel Whittemore's 


Militia Company of Artillery.* 










One 






Names. 


Residence. 


Rank. 


Ma 


rch. Penny 
a Mile. 


Services. 


Travel 


Israel Whittemore. 


Weston 


Captain 


Apl 


.19 2:10 


4 days 


34 miles 


Josiah Bigelow. 






Lieutenant 




2:10 


4 " 


" 


John George. 






2d Lieut. 




2:10 


3 " 


** 


John Whitehead. 






Private 




2:10 


4 " 


" 


John Pownall. 












2:10 


3 " 


" 


Nathan Weston. 












2:10 


3 " 


" 


Joseph Russell. 












2:10 


- 


" 


Nathan Smith. 












2:10 


3 " 


" 


John Flagg. 












2:10 


3 " 


" 


Jonathan Lawrance. 












2:10 


2 " 


** 


James Smith Jr. 












2:10 


2 " 


" 


Thaddeus Garfleld. 












2:10 


4 " 


" 


Alpheus Bigelow. 












2:10 


3 " 


" 


Thomas Russell. 








2:10 


4 " 





Sd Israel Whittemore, 

Captain. 

* This company alao marched from Weston to Concord on the 19th of April, 1775. The 
total amount paid for their services was £5 17s. 2d. See State Records, vol. 13, fol. 20. 
Examined and compared by Josiah Johnson and Jonas Dix, Committee. 



W'ESTON IN THE REVOLUTION 81 

A new organization of the militia was made in February, 1776. 
The Third ISIiddlesex Regiment was composed of three com- 
panies in Concord, Weston, Lexington, Acton, and Lincoln. 
Eleazer Brooks of Lincoln was colonel, Francis Faulkner lieuten- 
ant-colonel, Nathan Barrett of Concord first major, and Samuel 
Lamson of Weston second major, Joseph Adams surgeon. On 
Monday, March 13, 1775, there was a review of all the militia 
held at Concord, and a week later at Acton. Congress ordered 
that provisions and military stores sufficient for 15,000 men 
should be collected at Concord and Worcester. 

Charlestown sent 20 loads, containing 20,000 pounds of musket- 
balls and cartridges, 206 tents, 113 spades, 51 axes, 201 bill-hooks, 
19 sets of harness, 14 chests of medicine, 27 hogsheads of wooden 
ware, 1 hogshead matches, and 20 bushels of oatmeal. Boston 
sent 11 loads, containing 150 tents, axes, hatchets, spades, wooden 
spoons and dishes, 47 firkins and 2 barrels butter, and 80 barrels 
of beef. Marblehead sent 14 hogsheads, containing 35 half-barrels 
of powder, 318 barrels of flour (a part of this flour was destroyed 
on April 19), 7 loads of salt fish (l7,000 pounds), 18 casks of wine, 
47 hogsheads and 50 barrels of salt, 4 loads of tents, 1 bundle 
of sheet lead, several hogsheads of molasses, and a quantity of 
linen. Salem sent 35,000 pounds of rice. Nor is this all the 
stores that were collected. On April 18 these stores were ordered 
to be divided in nine different towns. One-third was kept in 
Concord, one-third in Sudbury, and one-third in Stowe. 1,000 
iron pots were sent to Worcester. 

At the battle of Concord and during the retreat of the British 
to Charlestown, of the ])rovincials 49 men were killed, 30 wounded, 
and 5 missing. Captains Charles Mills, Nathan Barrett, Jonas 
Brown, and Abel Prescott, Jr., were wounded. Captains Isaac 
Davis, Abner Hosmer, and James Hayward, of Acton, were 
killed. Luther Blanchard was wounded, Captain Wilson, of 
Bedford, killed, and Job Lane wounded. 

Of the British 73 were killed, 172 wounded, and 26 missing. 
Among these were 18 officers, 10 sergeants, 2 drummers, and 240 
of the rank and file. It is stated that none of those taken pris- 
oners returned to the British army. 

The files of the Provincial Congress give the loss at Lexington 



82 HISTORY OF WESTON 

of property destroyed by the British on the 19th of April as 
£2,576 2s., — real estate £615 lO^., and personal £1,960 125. 
But as this estimate was made in 1782, or seven years after the 
fight, the Selectmen state that the loss and damage could not 
be ascertained at that date. 

The battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, following the fight at 
Concord, closed all political connection of the colonies with the 
British government. While that battle was a virtual defeat of 
the Continental forces, the victory, if so it can be called, of the 
ministerial party, was of the kind that in their results overturn 
empires, as was proved in this case. The news of this battle was 
taken to England by Captain Derby, of Salem. He reached 
England in advance of General Gage's official report. The news 
created a great sensation throughout the country. A strong sym- 
pathy w^as manifested for the Americans, and a London paper of 
that date states that a subscription of £100 had been raised for 
the benefit of the widows and orphans of the brave Americans who 
had been inhumanly murdered by the king's soldiers. The 
records of the town of Weston make no mention of there having 
been any of its inhabitants in the battle of Bunker Hill. Mr. 
Abraham Hews, our former postmaster, once told the writer that 
he remembered, when a boy, sitting on his father's doorstep and 
hearing the report of the guns that were being fired on that day. 

At a town meeting held on the 25th of May, 1775, Colonel 
Braddyll Smith was chosen to represent the town at a Provincial 
Congress to be held in Watertown on the 31st of May, and to 
continue as their representative for six months and no longer; 
"to consult, deliberate, and resolve upon such further measures 
as under God shall be effectual to save this people from ruin." 
It was also voted later that Colonel Smith should use his influence 
to raise more men "to defend our lines against our enemies." 

It may be well here to consider the drift of the country at this 
time. Our grandfathers looked upon themselves as Englishmen, 
and were proud of England. Their determination to resist unjust 
measures and laws which were infringements on their charter 
rights (which charter they had received at the hands of the king 
alone) was not associated in their minds with the idea of a sepa- 
ration or disaffection towards England and the king. The possi- 



am:stox in the revolution 83 

bility of contending against the mother country by force of arms 
was thought inijiracticable, and not imtil after Concord figlit 
and the battle of Bunker Hill did the Liberty Men of the country 
feel confident of success. Throughout the Revolution such facts 
as that the Tory element openly sympathized with the enemy; 
that the timid among our own people feared the country had 
been led too far on the road to a contest which would ultimately 
lead to destruction; that there existed a state of depression over 
defeat and want; and that universal uncertainty prevailed, the 
friends of freedom being goaded by the satire and ridicule of the 
Loyalists everywhere, — such things as these, I say, can be little 
understood at the present day. From the commencement two 
men, above all others, seem to have had a clear purpose and 
unfailing confidence in the result, and to have inspired others 
both with energy and courage in the fight for freedom. They 
were George Washington and Samuel Adams. At the beginning 
of the Revolution, Massachusetts was entitled to have one of its 
officers appointed to the command of the army, the more so as 
the contest was within her territory; but she relinquished her 
claim to Virginia, and Washington was made commander-in- 
chief. The appointment of Washington to supreme command 
was a great disap])ointment to John Hancock, who felt he was 
entitled to that position; but that he was not qualified for so 
exalted a position was best exemplified by his display of wounded 
self-esteem and his want of courtesy towards Washington. 
Washington arrived in Cambridge on July 2, 1775, and, while 
his headquarters were being prepared for him in the Vassal house, 
he was entertained at the expense of the Congress sitting in 
Watertown. Congress provided him with a steward and cooks. 
The following bill paid by Congress (Journal of Congress, pp. 
493-495) goes to show that not all the spirits and old Madeira, 
not all the lemons and loaf sugar, were in control of the British 
in Boston. Washington could not have depended on the Pro- 
hibition vote, had he lived in our day. Temperance, as now 
understood, had little to do with the making or unmaking of our 
great men a century ago. President Lincoln was about right. 
Wlien told of General Grant's intemperate habits, he inquired 
what liquor he drank, as he would like to send some of it to other 



84 HISTORY OF WESTON 

generals he could name. The bill above alluded to is sufficiently 
curious to be given here: — 

General Washington & Co. To Solomon Lothrop. Dr. 

To 6 Bottles of Madeira £1:10:0 

" 5 Dozen Lemons 1:3:103^ 

" 63<^ lbs. Loaf Sugar 0:11:3 

" 7 Quarts Brandy 14:0 

" 24 Dinners 2:8:0 

" 7 Ditto for Servants 10:6 

" 1 Bowl of Punch 1:4 

" 1 Gallon Spirits 8:0 

13 Suppers 16:9 

2 Quarts Spirits 4:0 

" 13 Breakfasts 16:9 

" 1 man to make Liquor 3:0 

" 6 Bottles of Madeira 1:10:0 

" 1 Dozen Lemons 4:93^ 

"5 Do. Do 1:5:0 

" 3 Bottles Jamaica Rum 6:0 

" 1 Bottle West India Rum 1:4 

" 12 Bottles Madeira 3:0:0 

and so on, a long list, amounting to £24 6^. dd. Congress cannot 
be accused of overlooking the spiritual condition of the staff.* 

Washington took command of the forces before Boston on 
July 3. He found an army destitute of every munition of war, — 
of powder, in particular. The powder-house at Mystic was for 
the greater part stored with barrels which, instead of containing 
powder, were filled with sand, the better to deceive the enemy, 
should a spy by chance look in. Watson, in his reminiscences, 
tells some amusing stories of the motley gathering of inexperi- 
enced men, assembled to defend their country, animated with 
zeal and patriotism, but entirely ignorant of military discipline. 
Wliile passing through the camp, he overheard a dialogue between 
a captain of the militia and one of his privates, which well illus- 
trates the character of the army. "Bill," said the captain, 

* When General Washington was on his way to take command of the army at Cam- 
bridge, he passed over our Weston road with his staff, and stopped for dinner at the Baldwin 
tavern in Wayland. Mrs. Baldwin made great preparations for the dinner, but, much to 
her disgust, Washington went into her kitchen and asked for a bowl of bread and milk [or 
corn mush and milk?] which he ate there, leaving his staff to eat the formal dinner. This 
tavern was burned, but the property is yet in the Baldwin family. 



WESTON IN THE REVOLUTION 85 

"go and bring a pail of water for the mess." "I shan't do it," 
was Bill's reply. "It is your turn now, captain: I got the last 
one." Even the elements of subordination had then scarcely 
been introduced. Officers and men had rushed to the field under 
the ardent impulse of a common patriotism, and the selection 
of the officers by the troops (or their appointment) was rather 
accidental and temporary than controlled by any regard to supe- 
rior qualifications. All the warlike stores in Massachusetts on 
April 14, 1775, according to a return made by the several 
tow^ns, were little more than half a pound of powder to a man, 
as shown herewith: — 

Fire Arms 21,549 

Pounds of Powder 17,441 

Pounds of Ball 22,191 

No. of Flints 144,699 

" " Bayonets 10.108 

" " Pouches 11,979 

In a Weston town meeting held June 18, 1776, it was voted by 
the citizens to instruct their representative to use his influence for 
independence from Great Britain, "if the Honorable Congress 
thinks it best for the interests of the Colony." The town also 
voted that their representative should not be paid out of the pub- 
lic chest, which was still in the hands of the royal governor. At 
the May meeting it had been voted that he should be allowed four 
shillings a day out of the town rates for one hundred and thirty- 
seven days' services in the Congress. At this meeting Major Lam- 
son receipts for the use of two guns belonging to the town 12^., and 
also for powder, ball, and flints from Selectmen amounting to 
£23 105. 2(/.* General Washington having decided to fortify 
Dorchester Heights, and thus command the city of Boston and 
force Lord Howe to evacuate that city, which he had held for 

* Mr. Shattuck, in his valuable and now exceedingly rare book giving the history of Con- 
cord, says (p. 353): "A new organization of the militia was made in February, 1776, and 
Concord, Lexington, Weston, Acton, and Lincoln were assigned to the Third Middlesex 
Regiment in Oliver Prcscott's brigade, Eleazer Brooks, colonel, Francis Faulkner, lieuten- 
ant-colonel, Nathan Barrett, first major, and Samuel Lamson, second major, Joseph Adams, 
surgeon. The captain of the Weston company was Jonathan Fiskc; Matthew Ilobbs, first 
lieutenant; Josiah Seaverns, second lieutenant. In March, 1780, the Weston company was 
commanded by Matthew Hobbs; Josiah Livermore, first lieutenant; and Daniel Livermore, 
second lieutenant." 



86 



HISTORY OF WESTON 



a year and a half, the Third Middlesex Regiment was ordered 
on the 4th of March to occupy the Heights, and the Weston 
company, which was a part of this regiment, proceeded to the 
appointed position under Captain Jonathan Fisk. The officers 
of the Third Regiment at this time were Colonel Eleazer Brooks, 
of Lincoln, Lieutenant-colonel Nathan Barrett, of Concord, and 
Major Samuel Lamson, of Weston. The names of the Weston 
company are as follows (Mass. Reg. Rolls, vol. 19, p. 88) : — 



Captain Jonathan Fisk. 
Sergeant Samuel Fisk. 
Sergeant Isaiah Seaverns. 
Corporal Abijah Stedman. 
Corporal Simeon Smith. 
Fifer Abijah Seaverns. 
Privates Isaac Corey. 

William Bond. 

Benjamin Dudley. 

Isaac Walker. 

Uriah Gregory. 

Solomon Jones. 

Edward Peirce. 

Nathan Hager. 

Michael Warren. 

Jonathan Warren. 

Thomas Russell Jr. 

Benjamin Stimpson. 

David Steadman. 

Benjamin Peirce Jr. 

Reuben Hobbs. 

Silas Livermore. 

Samuel Underwood. 

Benjamin Rand. 

Jonathan Stratton Jr. 

Joseph Russell. 



Isaac Flagg. 
Ebenezer Steadman. 
Nathaniel Howard. 
Joshua Peirce. 
Thaddeus Fuller. 
Abraham Harrington. 
James Cogswell. 
Joshua Jennison. 
Elijah Kingsbury. 
Benjamin Upham. 
Samuel Pratt. 
John Allen Jr. 
James Hastings. 
Joseph Steadman. 
John Warren Jr. 
John Wright. 
John Stimpson. 
Lemuel Stimpson. 
John Peirce. 
Thomas Williams. 
Abel Flint. 
John Hager. 
Wm. Hobbs. 
Thomas Rand Jr. 
Jonas Underwood. 



The company travelled twenty -eight miles, and served five days. 

At the town meeting held in June it was voted to appoint 
one of the Selectmen to take a census of the town as directed 
by Congress. There is no record of the result of this census. 
It is to be regretted that the records of the town do not give the 
organizations, companies, and regiments to which the Weston 
men who fought in the Revolution were assigned. We hsive the 



VYESTOX IX THE REVOLUTION 87 

payments made to all who served in the war and some of the 
campaigns in which they took part, but nothing more definite. 
A more detailed account would have added interest to the de- 
scendants of all the old soldiers. The little that has been ac- 
complished in identifying our soldiers in the several commands of 
that period has been done in searching through the rolls at the 
State House, and in some instances these are not complete. 
Returns of companies and regiments were not attended to with 
the promptness and regularity of our own days. There are extant 
records which show sharp and frequent reminders from the head- 
quarters of the army about the delinquency and carelessness of 
officers in this respect. 

In town meeting held July 1, 1776, it was voted to give £6 6s. 
Sd. to each man (in addition to the bounty granted by the General 
Court); i.e., to those men that were to go to Canada. Major 
Lamson, Ensign Isaac Hobbs, and Captain John Warren were 
appointed a committee to hire the money, and the town treasurer 
was ordered to give his security on behalf of the town at 6 per 
cent, interest. 

The Weston men who went to Canada at this time are Con- 
verse Bigelow, John Warren, Jr., Samuel Train, Matthew Hobbs, 
John Hager, Lemuel Stimpson, James Cogswell, Benjamin Rand, 
Samuel Danforth, William Helms, Paul Cooledge, John Baldwin, 
Benjamin Bancroft, Daniel Sanderson, Reuben Hobbs, Elias 
Bigelow, Thomas Russell, Jr., John Stimpson. 

Nearly all of the above men were of the Weston company. 
The Weston men who were in Captain Asabet Wlieeler's company 
(of Colonel John Robinson's regiment) in 1776 at the siege of Bos- 
ton and stationed at Cambridge were Josiah Cary, Roger Bige- 
low, Paul Cooledge, Converse Bigelow, Nathaniel Bemis, Elias 
Bigelow, Daniel Benjamin, Nathaniel Parkhurst, Oliver Curtis, 
Phineas Hager, Lemuel Jones, Daniel Livermore, Thomas Bige- 
low, A. Faulkner. 

The three months' and ten-day men at Cambridge were as 
follows, and they received £346 lis. 2d.: Edward Cabott, Josejjh 
Coburn, Isaac Gregory, Isaac Peirce, Artemas Cox (Wyman), 
Daniel Bemis, John Bemis, Josepli Mastick, Peter Cary, Simeon 
Pike, Keen Robinson, Daniel Rand, Thomas Harrington. 



88 HISTORY OF ^^^STON 

The five months' men at Cambridge were paid £200 I85. 
They were Philemon Warren, Joseph Stone, John Hager, George 
Farrar, Jedediah Warren, Nathan Fisk, Henry Bond, Josiah 
Jennison, Nathan Hager. 

The Weston men to guard the beacon on Sanderson Hill in 
Weston were as follows (they were paid £127 85.): Jonas San- 
derson, Nathaniel Felch, Joel Harrington, Nathaniel Parmenter, 
Thaddeus Peirce, Daniel Rand. 

This beacon is spoken of in General Sullivan's Memoirs, and was 
the connecting link of signals between the army at Cambridge 
and Sullivan's command in Rhode Island. 

The nine months' men for the Continental army were as fol- 
lows, and they were paid £900 bounty money: Keen Robinson, 
Jeduthun Bemis, Joseph Mastick, James Bemis, Samuel Bailey, 
Daniel Davis, Peter Cary. 

On July 4, 1776, Congress issued to the country the Declara- 
tion of Independence by the representatives of the United States 
of America in General Congress assembled, and in council at 
Boston, July 7, it was ordered to be printed and a copy sent to 
the minister of each parish, and that the ministers be required 
to read the same on the first Lord's Day after they shall have 
received it, and that it should then be copied into the town records 
as a perpetual memorial. The Declaration of Independence was 
read in Weston by Rev. Samuel Woodward on the eighth day 
of September, 1776. 

At a special town meeting held January 27 the petition of 
Josiah Smith and others, inhabitants of Weston, was read: — 

To THE Selectmen of Weston, Gentlemen: 

Whereas it is diflScult coming to justice in drafting men to go to the 
service of the United States by a common draft, we think it more 
just and equitable to come to justice for the town to choose a Committee 
to hire men whenever there shall be a call for men, and to have them 
paid by an assessment on ye inhabitants and estates by the same rule 
that common town rates are made and collected and in the same way, 
and ye money when collected to be delivered to said Committee in order 
to pay ye men: And also to make an estimate of what every person 
has done in the service since ye 19th of April 1775. 



WESTON IN THE REVOLUTION 89 

It was voted to choose five as such committee; namely, John 
Warren, Tliomas Rand, Abraham Jones, Isaac Ho})bs, and Sanniel 
Livermore. This committee continued throughout the war, and 
did valuable service. At the same meeting it was 

Voted to allow £3 to each man that was in service at Cambridge for 
eight months. 

Voted that £10 be allowed each man in service 12 months and marched 
to New York. 

Voted that £18 be allowed each man in service twelve months and 
marched to Canada. 

Voted that twelve shillings be allowed each man in service two months 
at Cambridge, February and March. 

Voted that £o be allowed to each man in service five months at Ticon- 
deroga. 

Voted that £2 be allowed each man in service four months in Boston. 

Voted that £5 be allowed each man in service two months at Horse- 
neck. 

Voted that £7:10 be allowed each man in the Jersies. 

Voted that £1:10 to men in service 5 months in Boston. 

Voted that 18 shillings be allowed for service 3 months in Boston. 

At a town meeting held February 17, 1777, it was voted to 
add four more to the committee on the war; and Colonel Smith, 
John Lamson, Deacon Russell, and Deacon Upham were chosen 
to be of that committee. 

The close watch which the friends of liberty held over the 
unfriendly, or Tory, element among them, is well exemplified in 
an occurrence which took place in Lincoln in August of 1777. 
The account is taken probably from a diary, as no name is signed 
to the statement: "This very day a mob came, it being on Sun- 
day morning: the mob consisted of sixteen persons, by violence 
drove me away and kept me under guard for twenty six hours, 
insulting me to the highest degree." He then gives a list of the 
names of the persons who composed the mob: Colonel Abijah 
Peirce, Lieutenant Samuel Hoar, Lieutenant James Parks, Ser- 
geant Ephraim Flint, Sergeant Daniel Harrington, and eleven 
others. This person, whoever he was, had probably ventilated 
his Tory proclivities, and been arrested by a company of soldiers. 



90 HISTORY OF WESTON 

The Third Middlesex Regiment served on the Hudson River 
and the Canada border, and it is probable the Weston company 
was with the regiment at Wliite Plains in October; but there is 
no record on the town books of their services, beyond the pay- 
ment made to Weston soldiers. The eight months' men on North 
River, New York, are as follows, and were probably drafted: 
Oliver Curtis, Ebenezer Philips, Joseph Stone, John Hager, John 
Richardson. There w^ere eight Weston men in Captain Jesse 
Wyman's company, of Colonel Josiah Whiting's regiment serving 
in Rhode Island, discharged at Point Judith: Oliver Curtis, 
Joseph Mastick, George Farrer, Amos Hosmer, Buckley Adams, 
Joseph Stone, Josiah Parks, Eleazer Parks. 

A draft was ordered by Colonel Brooks of one-sixth of Cap- 
tain Fisk's Weston company (Records, vol. 53, p. 192), dated 
August 18, 1777, as follows: William Hobbs, Samuel Nutting, Silas 
Livermore, Alpheus Bigelow, Nathan Warren, Daniel Benjamin, 
Joel Harrington, Isaac Jones, Jr., Phineas Hager, Phineas Upham, 
Isaac Flagg, Thomas Hill, William Bond, Amos Harrington, Isaac 
Harrington, Jr., John Allen, Jr., Jeduthun Bemis, Daniel Weston. 

Captain Fisk reports that Isaac Jones, Jr., could not be found. 
The six months' men who served in Rhode Island were as fol- 
lows: Abel Peirce, Phineas Stimpson, Jonas Parmenter, David 
Livermore, John Roberts, Solomon Parmenter, William Richard- 
son, Samuel Bond, Alpheus Bigelow, Panamuel Pratt, Daniel 
Bemis, Abner Mathias, Nathan Fisk, Amos Peirce, Phineas Hager, 
Silas Livermore, Jonas Underwood, James Peacock, James Coggs- 
well, Joseph Storrs, John Bemis, Joseph Walker. 

When Washington was defeated at Brooklyn, the army came 
near being broken up by the discharge of short-term enlisted men, 
and Washington appealed to the Continental Congress to organ- 
ize an efficient army. As an inducement to enlist for the term 
of the war. Congress offered a bounty of £20 at the time of mus- 
ter and the following grants of land: to a colonel, 500 acres; to 
a major, 400 acres; to a captain, 300 acres; to a lieutenant, 
200 acres; and 100 acres to privates and non-commissioned offi- 
cers. Massachusetts passed a resolve requiring each town to 
furnish every seventh man of sixteen years of age, excepting 
Quakers, By this order Weston's quota was eighteen men. 



WESTOX IX THE REVOLUTION 



91 



The town borrowed money of the townspeople to pay for the 
men ordered, in sums as follows: — 



Samuel Fisk .... 


£14.5:1^2:0 


Anna IJigt-low . . 


. . £31:4:0 


Jonathan Fisk . . . 


113:3:0 


Elisha Warren . . 


. . 15:7:6 


Jacob Bigelow . . . 


()1:1G:0 


Joseph Russell . . 


. . 4:10:0 


John Sanderson . . . 


Gl:4:0 


Ahijah Warren . . 


. . 15:14:0 


William Hosmer . . 


1.54:10:0 


Sarah Cox .... 


. . 27:3:0 


Amountine in all t 


.... 




. . £633:5:6 



The full amount of money borrowed of sundry persons for the use of 

the town from May, 1778, to 1779 was £4,281:5:0 

Town Debt 3,965:9:11 

It is possible that the records of the campaign of Ticonderoga 
and Crown Point are defective for the reason that at the sur- 
render of Ticonderoga by General St. Clair, on the 5th of July, 
the American army lost their effects. We have a record of the 
application made by Colonel Thomas Marshall to the General 
Court, to be reimbursed for his outlay in j)roviding clothing for 
his command after the surrender. General Burgoyne surrendered 
his army at Saratoga on the 17th of October, and General Brickett 
escorted one wing of the British prisoners over the Framingham 
turnpike, or our south road, through Newton to Winter Hill in 
Somerville. General Glover escorted the other wing of prisoners 
over our Main Street to the same destination. General Glover's 
troops passed a night on our Main Street.* Over one hundred 
men enlisted in the army from Weston in 1777. In the year 1778 
four men from Captain Fisk's company enlisted in the Conti- 
nental army, viz.: John Norman, Isaac Green, Peter Cotton, 
John Tibbetts. 

* On August 29, 1777, Tyieutenant-colonel Paul Revere, in command of Fort Independence, 
was ordered to march with five drummers and five fifer.s, one hundred and twenty sergeants, 
corporals, bombardiers, gunners, and matrosses, with their commissioned officers, to Worcester, 
there to meet and take charge of the prisoners captured at Bennington by General Stark. 
They left Watcrtown at six o'clock, breakfasted at the Golden Ball Tavern in Weston, and 
dined at Sudbury. While there. Colonel Revere received a letter from Mrs. Jones, of Weston, 
complaining that her store had been broken open and twelve loaves of sugar stolen. She 
suspected the soldiers of doing the deed. Colonel Revere had all the packs searched, but 
found nothing. He says in his report that he suspects they stole the sugar themselves, and out 
of pretence charged our people. The sugar, he says, belonged to the government, and they 
are Tories. When he was at the Jones tavern, the pocket of Captain Todd's servant was picked 
and two dollars taken therefrom while the coat was hanging in the kitchen. 

From Worcester several hundred prisoners — Highlanders, Ciermans, Canadians, etc. — 
•were marched to Boston. 



92 HISTORY OF WESTON 

These four men not being on the muster-roll of the company, 
were undoubtedly hired (or substitute) men. 

In July Major Lamson, by order of Colonel Brooks, drafted 
three men from the Weston company to serve as guards to the 
prisoners at Winter Hill, viz.: John Bemis, Isaac Gregory, and 
Nathaniel Wyman. Major Lamson in his return states that 
John Walker, Jr., a Continental soldier of Weston, has not re- 
turned to his duty as he promised to do, and the major suggests 
that Colonel Brooks should issue an order for his return at once 
(Records, vol. 53 [23 ?], p. 192). 

The nine months' men drafted from Weston to serve at Fish- 
kill, N.Y., were as follows (vol. 28, p. 160): Samuel Bay ley, Keen 
Robinson, James Beaman, Peter Cary, Jeduthun Bemis. 

On October 15, 1778, Colonel Brooks, of the Third Middlesex 
Regiment, was made brigadier-general, and was succeeded in 
command of the regiment by Nathan Barrett, of Concord (vol. 
28, p. 120). 

At a town meeting held the 18th of May, 1778, it was 

Voted to choose a committee of nine to report upon the proposed 
plan of government. 

Voted that Elisha Warren be dismissed as treasurer, and that Isaac 
Hobbs be appointed in his place. 

Voted that £433 : 6 : 8 be granted Rev. Samuel Woodward as a gra- 
tuity for the present year. 

At an adjourned town meeting held June 8, 1778, it was voted 
to act upon the constitution and form of government sent to 
the town for its consideration. The vote stood: — 

For the approbation of the constitution, 6. 

Against it or in disapprobation, 57. 

At an adjourned meeting held on the 22d of October, 1778, the 
town voted the following instructions to their representative at 
the General Court: — 

Mr. Joseph Roberts: 

Sir, — As you are chosen by the inhaliitants of tliis town to represent 
them in the General Court, yoiir constituents think tliey have a right 



WESTON IN THE REVOLUTION 93 

to instruct their representative from time to time as they shall think need- 
ful. Therefore, the inhabitants of this town think it proper to give you 
the following. 

1. That you use j'our best endeavours in the General Court to have 
such laws made as may prevent the return of any of those persons into 
this town or state who have sought and received protection from the 
British army. 

2. That you also endeavour in said Court, that the Judge of Probate 
be lawfully authorised to appoint agents over the estates of all such 
persons as have died in the town of Boston or elsewhere while under the 
protection of the British army. 

At a town meeting held the 24th of May, 1779, it was 

Voted to send two delegates to the convention, for the sole purpose 
of forming a new constitution or form of government. [Joseph Roberts 
and John Allen were chosen.] 

That the delegates transmit to the Selectmen a printed copy of the 
form of government they shall agree upon, in order that the same may 
be laid before the town. 

Voted the sum of £3,000 to support the war. 

At a town meeting held the 2d of August, 1779, it was 

Voted to hear the proceedings of the convention, held at Concord 
on the 14th of July last, for the purpose of forming a constitution or form 
of government. 

Voted unanimously that we approve of and will abide by the proceed- 
ings of said convention. 

Voted to chose two delegates to attend the convention at Concord 
the first Wednesday in October next. [Samuel Fisk and Thomas Rand 
were so chosen.] 

A subject brought before the Concord convention was that 
of domestic trade, the establishing of a system of prices at which 
the necessaries of life were to be sold. The scarcity of money, 
the high rates which towns were obliged to pay for money to 
support the war, and the unreasonable prices charged for all prod- 
uce of daily consumption rendered action necessary. This con- 
vention fixed a scale of prices for goods and merchandise and 
for farm produce and wages. Weston chose a committee to see 



94 HISTORY OF ^\^STON 

that the agreement was faithfully observed in this town, and to 
publish the names of those persons who did not comply with the 
regulation. The convention did thorough work and took in all 
kinds of business. The prices were in the depreciated currency 
of that time, which was about 20 shillings paper to 1 shilling in 
silver. This would bring the price of tea to $1.33 per pound, and 
wages per day in summer to 58 cents. West India rum, £6 9s. 
per gallon; New England rum, £4 16s. per gallon; coffee, 18 
shillings per pound; molasses, £4 15s. per gallon; brown sugar, 
from 10 to 14 shillings per pound; tea, £5 16s. per pound; salt, 
£10 8s. per bushel; beef, 5 shillings per pound; butter, 12 shillings 
per pound; cheese, 6 shillings; hay, 30 shillings per cwt.; yard- 
wide tow cloth, 24 shillings per yard; cotton cloth, 36 shillings 
per yard; men's shoes, £6 per pair; women's, the same; carpenter, 
per day, 60 shillings; mason, per day, 60 shillings; common 
laborer, 48 shillings in summer; flip (West India), per mug, 
15 shillings; flip. New England, 12 shillings; toddy in proportion. 
Extra good dinner, £l; common dinner, 12 shillings. Best sup- 
per and breakfast, 15 shillings; common supper and breakfast, 
12 shillings. Horse-keeping, 24 hours at hay, 15 shillings; on 
grass, 10 shillings. 

At a to^vTi meeting held the 15th of November, 1779, it was 
voted to choose a committee of five persons to ascertain the 
bounds of the meeting-house lot and the road adjoining 
thereto. Captain Estes How, Captain WTiittemore, Lieutenant 
Stratton, Jonas Harrington, and John Allen were chosen such 
committee. 

At a town meeting held May 29, 1780, it was voted to accept 
the committee's report relating to town lands, but the report 
is not entered on the records. 

The two months' men for service in Rhode Island were Ben- 
jamin Peirce, Jr., Joseph Stone, Jonas Peirce, Nathaniel Billings, 
William Gill, Daniel Livermore. 

The four months' men were Isaac Walker and John Bemis. 

The nine months' men in the Continental army from Weston 
were Thomas Bemis, Jacob Bemis, Abel Peirce, Simeon Pike, 
Ephraim Capron, John Roberts. They were paid £2,216 7s. 

For guarding the beacon: John Hager's son, Samuel Liver- 




THE HOBBS HOUSE, NORTH AVENUE. 

Built by Deacon Isaac Hobbs as a double house, our-half being occupied later by his 
grandson. Captain Samuel Hobbs, and the west end Ijv ( 'nptain Henry Hobbs. Mrs. Samuel 
Hobbs was the daughter of Rev. Dr. Kendal, and resided liere until her death in 1SS3. She 
was succeeded by her nephew, General James F. B. Marshall, who extensively remodelled 
the house and named it Kendal Green. It is now owned and occupied by George N. Aber- 
crombie. 




THE OLD WHITNEY TAVERN, NORTH AVENUE. 

This ancient house, now owned by Thomas E. Coburn, has been a coninionijlacc tenement 
house for .seventy-five years or more, and its early history is almost forgotten by the few 
who ever knew it. Mr. Whitney, who owned and occupied it as a tavern, once kept the 
famous "Punch Bowl" tavern in Hrooklinc. 



WESTON IN THE REVOLUTION 95 

more's son, Thomas Graves's son, Thomas Rand's son. They 
were paid £50. 

There were seven three months' men sent to the army on the 
Hudson, besides those above mentioned; but they were all hired. 
The six months' men in the Continental army at Fishkill num- 
bered 15, and were all hired by the town. 

The three months' men from Weston were John Bigelow, 
Samuel Lamson, Jr., Thaddeus Peirce, Daniel Ward, Peter Gary, 
Jeduthun Bemis, John Glark, and two hired, or substitute, 
men. These men were paid in bills of the new emission at four 
for one. 

At a town meeting held May 29, 1780, it was voted to accept 
the constitution or form of government as it now stands, "but it 
is our opinion that it should be revised within ten years." The 
vote stood: yeas, 54; nays, 20. 

It was also voted to search for Mr. Goddard's deed of gift, to the 
town of Weston, of a piece of land near the meeting-house. No 
report is made by the committee appointed, which consisted of 
Captain Flagg, Israel Whittemore, and Thomas Spring. It is 
probable there is no such deed. 

Sixteen men were raised for the Continental army. They were 
all hired men and strangers to the town. They were to serve 
six months. Two of these men deserted, and three were 
discharged. 

A resolve of the legislature required the following amount 
of beef for Washington's army: Waltham, 7,200 cwt.; Weston, 
7,930 cwt.; Lincoln, 5,640 cwt. 

In 1780 the Weston company enlisted for three years, or for 
the war. The company was commanded by Matthew Hobbs, 
and the two Livermores were lieutenants. The company was 
employed in the western and northern parts of New York, and 
was discharged at Newburg on the Hudson. Captain Hobbs 
died in 1817. 

At a town meeting held September 4, 1780, the vote for gover- 
nor and lieutenant-governor was taken. His Excellency John 
Hancock had 38 votes; Hon. James Bowdoin had 29 votes. 
Lieutenant-governor Hon. Henry Gardner had 30 votes; Hon. 
James Bowdoin had 22 votes. 



96 HISTORY OF WESTON 

It will be interesting to follow the votes for governor and lieu- 
tenant-governor for the next few years, as indicative of the re- 
spective popularity of the leaders of the Revolution in this State. 
John Hancock was evidently the most popular of all, and it will 
be noticed that it required a long time for James Bowdoin to 
supersede him in the affection of the people. Bowdoin was one 
of the most efficient and public-spirited men who ever held the 
executive office of Massachusetts, and was free from many of the 
small traits of character which were prominent in Hancock. 
Samuel Adams was still the moving power in the background, 
giving force and animating the public mind to sacrifice and pa- 
triotism. Mr. Adams was secretary of the Provincial and State 
Council; but Jonathan Avery as deputy secretary signed public 
documents, and the military commissions of the day were 
countersigned by him. 

At a town meeting held December 27, 1780, it was voted to 
grant money to purchase the Weston quota of 15,227 pounds 
of beef ordered by the General Court, and also voted to raise 
£20,000 for the purpose, and to procure the thirteen men called 
for by government and raise the money to pay them. It had 
now become difficult to find men willing to enlist, and equally 
difficult to hire men. The Continental currency had so far depre- 
ciated as to render it almost useless, and loans of money on any 
terms were extremely difficult to obtain. The times were very 
hard, and the necessaries of life exhausted all available means. 
The year ended in general gloom. 

At a town meeting held January 8, 1781, it was voted to choose 
a committee of five to meet with Josiah Smith and his son Joel 
to set the bounds of the town lands near the meeting-house. 

At a town meeting held March 5, 1781, it was voted to present 
Rev. Mr. Woodward the thanks of the town for relinquishing 
fifteen cords of his firewood. 

At a town meeting held April 2, 1781, the votes for governor 
and lieutenant-governor were taken. His Excellency John Han- 
cock had 30 votes; Hon. James Bowdoin had 28 votes. Lieu- 
tenant-governor Hon. Thomas Cushing had 23 votes; Hon. 
James Prescott had 16; Hon. Azor Orne had 14. 

At the same meeting, " Voted to grant the Rev. Mr. Woodward 



WESTON IX THE REVOLl'TION 97 

£33:6:8 for his salary for six months, in silver money at the 
rate of 6 shillings 8 pence per ounce, or the exchange in paper 
currency at 75 of the latter for one of the former." 

The surrender of Lord Cornwallis and the British army at 
Yorktown, which occurred October 19, 1781, checked enlist- 
ments, and, although they continued on a small scale for a period, 
the war was felt to be virtually at an end. 

At a town meeting held April 1, 1781, the votes for governor 
and lieutenant-governor were taken. His Excellency John Han- 
cock had 49 votes; Hon. James Bowdoin had 21. Lieutenant- 
governor Hon. Thomas Gushing had 61. 

At a town meeting held October 14, 1782, it was voted to hear 
the proposals of the proprietors of a bell, which was purchased 
with a view to the benefit of the town, and act thereon. It was 
voted to accept the offer of the bell, with the conditions there- 
unto annexed, which are as follows, namely: "The proprietors 
make a present of the bell to the Town, provided they will hang 
it decently for the use of the Town." It would be interesting 
to give the names of these proprietors; but the diflBculty of 
obtaining an inspection of the papers in the tow^n safe, which 
have not been examined for probably half a century, has been 
so great that it had to be abandoned by the writer. Documents 
belonging to the town are treated too much as private property, 
not to be examined or touched. At this town meeting it was 
voted to grant £66 13s. ^d. "for the relief of the distressed 
family" of the late Rev. Mr. Woodward, "our faithful and be- 
loved pastor," also £15 for the funeral charges. 

It is to be regretted that we have no record of the men from 
Weston who were killed or who died in the army of the Revolu- 
tion. Mr. Woodward gives the names of only two, — Daniel and 
Elisha Whitehead. The company and regimental rolls contain no 
mention of casualties. We have no record of the pensions 
awarded to soldiers of that period. The wife of Colonel Samuel 
Lamson received from the government in lieu of yearly pension 
a life lease of a tavern which stood in the westerly part of 
Watertown, u])on which site now stands a school-house. 

Pursuant to the order of the honorable House of Rei)resenta- 
tives (May 1, 178l), the committee for the sale of the estates 



98 HISTORY OF WESTON 

of conspirators and absentees lying in the county of Middlesex 
"ask leave to report that they have sold the Estates hereinafter 
mentioned and described at the time, to the persons and for the 
sums set against the same," namely: — 

In Weston, March 9th, 1781. 

Elisha Jones, Esq., House, two barns, 75 acres of land sold 

to Colonel Thomas Marshall for £1,000 

53 Acres of land sold to Thomas Rand 185 

" John Coburn 155 

" M. A. Townsend 152 

Natick sold to N. Jennison 75 

sold to J. Dammson 85 

sold to J. Roberts 40 



30 
43 
20 
25 
20 



Total amount received from sale of land of Elisha Jones, Esq., £1692 

At a town meeting held February 24, 1783, the business was: — 

1st, to know the minds of the Town whether they were ready to come 
to the choice of a Person to settle in the Gospel ministry, and it passed 
affirmatively by a vote of 43 to 19. Id, Voted to grant £200 settlement as 
an encouragement to Mr. Kendal to settle with us in the work of the 
ministry. Voted that the deacons of the church be a committee to inform 
Mr. Kendal of the proceedings of the town. 

At an adjourned meeting of the town August 11, 1783, — 

Voted, That Deacon Thomas Russell, Samuel P. Savage, Esq., Mr. 
Jonathan Stratton, Deacon Isaac Hobbs, and Deacon Samuel Fiske be 
a Committee to wait on Mr. Kendal and inform him that the town are 
now ready to receive his answer to their call to settle with them. 

The meeting was adjourned for fifteen minutes, and Mr. Kendal 
came into meeting and exhibited his answer. 

In town meeting held in March, 1783, it was voted that a 
committee be appointed to draft instructions to the representa- 
tive of the town, who this year was Samuel Fiske, for his gov- 
ernment in the General Assembly. The committee was composed 
of Samuel Phillips Savage, John Warren, Thomas Russell, Thomas 
Marshall, and Isaac Hobbs, and on May 26, 1783, submitted the 
following report, written by Mr. Savage: — 

Mr. Samuel Fiske. 

Sir, — The Freeholders and Inhabitants of tliis Town having elected 
you to represent them in general Assembly the ensuing year, and con- 



WESTOX IX THE REVOLITIOX 99 

sidering that some matters of Uie last importance to the liappiness, 
if not to the being, of this Commonwealth, may very probably be laid 
before the house of Assembly for their Consideration, have thought 
proper to give you the following Instructions. 

\\hile conflicting with a jjowerful enemy, through a long and bloody 
war (though ever disposed for Peace that was safe and honorable), we 
flattered ourselves that when Peace returned, we should be quiet under 
our own Vine and Fig tree, and none would make us unhappy: but we 
were mistaken — for although we have sheathed the sword, yet, un- 
happy for us, a new scene of trouble opens by an article in the Treaty; 
for Congress are there bound earnestly to recommend to the different 
States, that they admit the Return of those men and restore to them 
their estates, who, at the beginning of the Contest, when their invaded 
Country called for their aid, fled to the Enemy, and many of them joined 
them in their endeavors to subjugate and ruin it. Is it possible the 
real friends of America can ever be happy if these men return, until 
the horrid scenes they have both devised and perpetrated be obliterated 
from our memories, or what is equally as impossible, they be so changed 
as to relish the pleasures which flow from real Liberty.^ 

We cannot but approve the prudent conduct of the Commissioners 
of these States (ever we trust under the Guidance of unerring Provi- 
dence) that the article though inserted, is but conditional, and not obliga- 
tory on the States: by which the happiness or misery of America, at 
present, seems to rest on the Virtue of the People and their Rulers. If 
ever a time called for the watchful eye, the wise head and the honest heart, 
it is now. We have waded through a sea of blood, and been at an immense 
expense of Treasure to support the glorious struggle; and we most sin- 
cerely hope we shall not now^ by one tceak act undo what has cost us the 
blood of thousands to effect. Shall it ever be said those men participated 
of the first fruits of Liberty who for eight long years have strove to tear 
up the fair plant by the roots. The thought opens to the mind such 
scenes of distress, that it is painfid to dwell upon it. 

To you Sir, (next to Heaven) as one of Guardians of our Rights and 
Liberties, we look. — Our choice of you evidences how much we rely on 
your Wisdom and Integrity — yet we must instruct and enjoin it upon 
you, that when you know, or have reason to believe, this important 
matter is coming before the house of Assembly for their Consideration, 
that you be present, and to the utmost of ability, both by your vote 
and influence prevent, if possible, the return of these men, or either of 
them to this Commonwealth, or the Restoration of their justly forfeited 
Estates. There are other things which on this occasion, might have 
been mentioned, but as our principal Design is instructing you, as for 
your Government in the above mentioned matter, we shall only say, 
that every thing which to you appears of real Importance to your Conn- 



100 HISTORY OF W'ESTON 

try's peace, freedom, Sovereignty and Independence, you will be par- 
ticularly attentive unto. 

We are sure Sir the Goodness of your heart will keep you from a base 
act, and we trust your good sense and firmness will, in the hour of Danger, 
secure you against the poison of the smooth Tongue and the insinuating 
address of the Secret Enemies of your Country, who are lying in wait 
to deceive. 

Samuel Philipps Savage 
John Warren 
Thomas Russell 
Thomas Marshall 

Isaac Hobbs 
Weston, May 26th, 1783. 

At a town meeting held September 8, 1783, 

Voted, That the 5th day of November next be the day for the ordina- 
tion of Mr. Samuel Kendal. 

Voted, That the method of procuring money to defray the expenses of 
said ordination be by way of collection, and that those who shall advance 
money for said purpose shall be allowed the same on the next tax assess- 
ment. 

Voted, That Major Samuel Lamson, Enoch Greenleaf and Deacon 
Samuel Fiske be a Committee to Provide for the Venerable Council. 

Protest. We the subscribers conceiving that the proceedings of this 
town of Weston in the meeting of this date, has been illegal and unconsti- 
tutional in calling, granting settlement money and salary to Mr. Samuel 
Kendal in settling among us in this place in the Gospel ministry — we 
hereby declare our protest against the said proceedings, and we advise 
that this our protest might be of public record in this town, and we plead 
the advantage of the Bill of Rights in that case provided. 

Joseph Harrington. Isaac Jones. 

Hezekiah Wyman. Samuel Train. 

Samuel Seaverns, Jr. Jonas Harrington 

Moses Harrington. John Flagg. 

Elisha Harrington. William Cutter. 
Joseph Roberts. 

No attention seems to have been paid to this curious pro- 
test. The names are probably of those who voted against the 
call of Mr. Kendal in the meeting of February 24 preceding. 

As 1783 virtually closes the war period, it will not be amiss 
to give a brief account of the money expended and men pro- 
vided by the following States: — 



WESTON IN THE REVOLUTION 101 

Between the years 1775 and 1783 Massachusetts furnished 
67,907 soldiers, while New York supplied only 17,781. In ad- 
justing the war balance after the peace, Massachusetts had 
overpaid her share in the sum of $1,248,801 of silver money. 
New York was deficient in the large sum of $2,074,846. 

New Hampshire, though almost a wilderness, furnished 12,496 
troops for the Continental ranks, or quite three-quarters of the 
number enlisted in New York State. 

New York was the Loyalist stronghold, and contained more 
Tories than any other colony in America (Sabine, vol. i. p. 29). 



VII. 

In the Wake of the Revolution. 
1784-1800. 

Having passed in review the period of the Revolution, from 
1775 to the treaty of peace, we have seen that every available 
man of Weston had been in the army for a longer or shorter term 
of service, many re-enlisting several times and serving at remote 
points, the town straining every nerve to raise the means to 
carry on the war to a successful termination. We can form no 
adequate idea at the present day of the privations and sufferings 
our forefathers went through in the battle for freedom. These 
severe sufferings of body and soul were not alone felt by the sol- 
diers in the field, but the women and children at home bore their 
full share of privation and want. All, then, were glad when 
they at last saw that their struggles were to have an end. There 
was no money, or what might be called money. The paper 
currency had depreciated to an extent which rendered it almost 
useless. Clothing was all home-made. Tea and coffee, sugar 
and salt, there was none. Flour had reached the price of $500 
a barrel in currency, and at points where the army was stationed 
was not obtainable at any price. The flour mills had been de- 
stroyed both by friend and foe. It is a question whether our 
people, if they had had a forecast of what they would be forced 
to endure for seven long years, would have thought flesh and 
blood equal to the attempt of a war against the crown. Men's 
hearts had become heavy. Mothers in the absence of their 
husbands looked upon their children and trembled for their 
future. The inhabitants of the frontier towns were in constant 
dread of Indian incursions, and those at the seaboard dreaded 
British invasion and ravages. 

But the war came to an end, and at once, on the cessation of 
hostilities, business of all kinds received a great impetus. The 
agricultural population soon felt the improved state of things. 



IN THE WAKE OF THE REVOLUTION 103 

Abundance succeeded want and privations, which for so long a 
period had been the lot of all. Money was still scarce, and taxes 
very high in consequence of the debts incurred in prosecuting 
the war. This state of things continued for several years, and 
brought about the Shays Rebellion of 1787. Among farmers the 
system of exchange of work and barter took the place (in most in- 
stances) of hard money. Land was cheap and mostly wooded, and 
in the purchase of farms throughout New England the standing 
wood would pay for the land. Distances to market were little 
considered, if for no other reason than because at central points 
hard money was to be had for wood and all farm produce. Pro- 
visions became very cheap, even when compared with the prices 
of our own day: beef, 6 to 8 cents; veal, 4 cents; pork, 6 cents; 
butter, 12 and 14 cents; eggs, 8 to 10 cents; hay, $8 to $10 a 
ton. There being no coal, wood was in good demand, and Boston 
took all the wood at fair prices. The farmers even brought it 
from far Vermont and New Hampshire. Ox-teams were then 
the only motive power, and long journeys were but little re- 
garded. In this work the boys came into play. Long lines of ox- 
teams — each load of from four to six cords of wood, piled high in 
the air — were driven by boys of fourteen and sixteen years of 
age. The trip to the market occupied several days and nights. 
Each division of eight or ten teams had one or two men along 
with the boys to sell the wood and help in case of accident. No 
money was to be spent on the road. Each boy had his allowance 
of crackers and cheese, which was to last until he got back 
home. Feed for the cattle was stowed away in bags on top of 
the loads. In the fall of the year the streets of Boston were a 
sight not seen nowadays. The official street-inspectors and anti- 
obstructionists live in pleasant times to-day; but in the early 
days of this century and down to 1840 lines of wood-teams with 
innumerable yokes of oxen filled the streets, the cattle feeding 
on the sidewalks. 

A good story is told of old Solomon Rice, of Sudbury. After 
the Worcester Riiilroad bridge was built, crossing the road to 
Brighton, he noticed one day, when driving a load of wood, that 
the stakes of his wagon barely cleared the bridge. He went home 
and put in longer stakes and piled his wood to their top. When 



104 HISTORY OF WESTON 

he reached the bridge, he whipped up his team, striking the 
bridge and scattering his wood all over the road. He sued the 
railroad for damages, and obtained a considerable sum of money, 
while the company were obliged to raise the grade of their 
bridge. 

This wood-teaming continued profitable into the '40 's, when 
the railroads bought the wood at their stations, to be used in their 
engines. Locomotives were not fitted for the use of coal until 
in the '50 's. 

There is probably no part in the lives of our honored ancestors 
so little understood by the young people of to-day as the prin- 
ciple of bondage, or apprenticeship, which was in general use 
down to about 1820. Let the well-dressed, comfortable, easy- 
going graduate of a high school put himself, for a moment only, 
in the place of a young boy of those days, of from fourteen to 
twenty years of age, — stout, ruddy, and full of health; dressed 
in a pair of leather breeches coming down to his knees; his legs 
covered with a pair of long blue woollen stockings reaching up 
to his knees; his feet encased in a thick pair of cowhide shoes, 
well greased; his shirt of blue homespun, and on a Sunday covered 
with a false bosom, which was taken off on his return from meet- 
ing and carefully folded away for the next Sabbath. Then think 
of him on a cold morning in winter, the thermometer below zero; 
snow blown through the cracks of his garret chamber, filling his 
breeches and freezing them stiff; the kitchen fireplace to be cleared 
of the snow which had fallen down the capacious chimney in 
the night; no matches, and lucky if the turf in the embers had 
not gone out, rendering the use of the tinder-box and flint a 
necessity. 

Under the old system of apprenticeship, boys at about the 
age of fourteen were bound out by their parents for a specified 
term of years, usually until the age of twenty-one, when they 
were presumed to have become proficient in their trade and 
capable of establishing themselves on their own account. Before 
the establishment of shoe factories conducted by large capital, 
which is only of recent date, all New England farmers were shoe- 
makers. There is scarcely a farm to-day without its building 
formerly devoted to this industry. It was then necessary, in 



IN Tin-: WAKE OF THE REVOLITION 105 

order to enable the farmers to eke out a comfortable living, which 
their farms did not always insure. Young boys were bound out 
to farmers just as in other occupations, and devoted the winter 
months to the trade of shoemaking. Many men, who in after life 
became wealthy merchants, had the early training given by a 
trade. 

In these days of much-talked-of prohibition it seems strange 
to look back to the time when our progenitors never looked upon 
water as made to drink. In fact, water was scarcely used by them 
as a common beverage. New England rum and cider were looked 
upon as the proper drink. Tea was a luxury, used in sickness 
or on special occasions of social gatherings. It was purchased 
by the ounce. Coffee was not in general use, and among farm- 
ers never seen on the breakfast table, as now. Two quarts of 
rum and a pint of molasses was the weekly allowance of the 
average family. This was independent of the frequent potations 
of flip, — a home-made beer of hops, heated by a flip-iron always 
at hand. The rum and molasses charges in the books of retailers 
and grocers in early days are a sight that would overturn the 
equilibrium of our Prohibitionists. 

On Isaac Lamson's books is a charge for New England rum, 
brandy, and sugar against the committee of three chosen in town 
meeting to collect the minister's tax of £3 3^. Qd. When we 
consider that the best rum sold for thirty-seven cents a gallon, 
some idea can be formed of the wear and tear to which the com- 
mittee was subjected in the performance of this religious duty. 
The women aided and abetted in the general use of wines and 
liquors, but their brew was of their own make. In every house 
could be found an abundance of currant, elderberry, and noyau 
wines. No visitor, however humble, was allowed to de])art with- 
out an invitation to the sideboard or cupboard. To have over- 
looked this act of hospitality was an offence not to be forgotten or 
readily forgiven. Notwithstanding the universal use of spirits, 
confined to no one class and forming a part of all contracts be- 
tween master and servant, there was little or no drunkenness, as 
we see it in its disgusting form in our day. The men drank hard, 
perhaj)s: they certainly drank often; but they worked hard, and 
black-strap was with them an article of food as well as drink. 



106 HISTORY OF WESTON 

The standing amusement among the neighbors of a rainy day, 
when outdoor work was impossible, w^as to congregate at the 
tavern and pitch cents. On one occasion, having become tired 
of that fun, one of the party made a bet that there was nothing 
in Dexter Stratton's store in Waltham one could ask for that he 
did not have. Joel Smith, or "Uncle Joel," as he was called 
by old and young, took the bet, and they all started for Strat- 
ton's, where they asked for all the impossible things they could 
think of, and Joel was called upon to pay up. But he had 
made up his mind what he wanted, and asked for an old pulpit. 
This Stratton reluctantly acknowledged he had not got, but 
his boy called out that the old Lincoln church pulpit was out 
in the shed; and there it was found, sure enough! Stratton was 
not so fortunate as to purchase the old Weston pulpit, for 
a townsman elevated it to the position of a barn ventilator. 
Having served its time as a vehicle of the wrath of God to 
the unrepentant sinner, it finally went up in a blaze of 
glory. 

We have said that every farm-house had its shoe-shop attach- 
ment. So every farm had its cider-mill. Apples were not then, as 
now, a marketable article to any extent, and all apples were made 
into drink, excepting what were needed for pies. These were made 
at Thanksgiving in numbers sufficient to last the whole winter. 
The food used by farmers was largely brown bread and Indian 
pudding. Apples were introduced into Massachusetts by Gov- 
ernor Winthrop, and Governor's Island in Boston Harbor was given 
to him for this service to the State. The governor planted it all 
over with apple-trees. Boys and girls were brought up on brown 
bread and milk for breakfast and supper the year round, and they 
were lucky when they got enough of that. Meat was as little 
in use by our forefathers as is the case now in the old country. 
There were no butchers going .about, as now. Farmers took 
turns in killing a cow or a calf, and the meat was distributed 
among the neighbors, generally without money consideration, 
but in exchange one with another. There is extant a note from 
Artemas Ward for a quarter of veal sent him by a neighbor. 
Bean porridge was also a staple article of food. Little is said, 
however, of the Yankee pork and beans. 



IX THE WAKE OE THE KEVOLITION 107 

At a town meeting held April 5, 1784, a protest was read from 
the Baptists against being taxed for the support of Rev. Mr. 
Kendal, since they paid their ])roportion of a tax for the sup- 
port of the gospel ministry to the minister of their own church. 
A committee was chosen to examine into their grievances, consist- 
ing of Colonel jNIarshall, Captain Jones, and Jonathan Stratton. 
The names of the Baptist petitioners are as follows: Oliver Hast- 
ings, Jonathan Spring, Josiali Severns, Mary Ballard, John 
Hastings, Jr., James Hastings, Samuel Pratt, Samuel Train, Jr., 
Enoch Bartlett, Thaddeus Spring, James Stimpson, Joseph 
Severns. 

At a meeting held April 5, 1780, it was voted to hear the report 
of the committee appointed to listen to the reasons that might 
be offered by the Baptist society relative to their paying the 
ministerial taxes. Here is their report : — 

Your committee chosen the 6th of March last, to wait upon those 
who call themselves of the Baptist Society, to hear the reason they have 
to offer why tliey should be released from paying taxes to the Rev. Mr. 
Samuel Kendal for his services in the Gospel Ministry, report as fol- 
lows, viz.: "That it is our unanimous opinion that those whose names 
were sent in to the Selectmen and Assessors of Weston, upon a schedule 
dated February 13th, 1786, signed by Oliver Hastings, Samuel Train, Jr., 
and Thafldeus Spring, Committee for said Society, should be released 
from paying taxes aforesaid for the reasons they gave us, except Messrs. 
Joseph Roberts, Samuel Seaverns, Jr., and Increase Leadbetter, whose 
reasons in our humble opinion are not sufficient to exempt them from 
paying their proportion of the Rev. Mr. Kendal's settlement and first 
salary at least." 

In 1784 the town applied to the legislature for authority to 
raise the sum of £1,000 by a lottery, which petition was granted 
and a committee appointed by the town to dispose of the tickets. 
It does not appear how this venture turned out. The purpose 
for which the £1,000 was to be devoted was the widening of the 
Watertown bridge. 

In town meeting held March 7, 1785, it was voted that the 
pews in the church be sold, and that the purchasers of said pews 
shall hold the same to themselves, their heirs and assigns, forever, 
so long as the present meeting-house shall stand. Eight pews 



108 HISTORY OF WESTON 

were sold. The committee report that the pew then occupied 
by Mr. John Coburn was not sold, as the power to sell it was dis- 
puted by Mr. Coburn, who doubted the right the town had in it. 
The committee report that there were other pews in the same 
predicament. They were not inclined to give occasion for 
lawsuits, and state that the town should now settle the 
matter. The report is signed by Isaac Jones, Enoch Greenleaf, 
and Israel Whittemore. For a complete list of pew sales in 
1772, a little earlier than the time we are now reviewing, see 
Appendix III. 

At a town meeting held April 2, 1787, it was voted not to 
offer any bounty to men who marched in the "Shays rebellion." 
On January 1, this year, the limit fixed by the General Court for 
taking the oath of allegiance and for receiving pardon expired. 
At the time of the "Shays rebellion" the State debt was enormous, 
and the people were saddled with taxes beyond endurance. 
Farmers especially felt the burden, and many were sold out of 
their farms on account of not being able to pay their taxes and 
personal debts. Discontent was universal. Massachusetts' pro- 
portion of the federal debt was about £l,. 500, 000. Private debts 
were computed at £1,300,000, and £250,000 was due to the soldiers 
of the Revolution. Dr. Samuel A. Green estimates that from 

1784 to 1786 every fourth, if not every third, man in the State 
was subjected to one or more executions for debt. In 1784 there 
were over 2,000 actions entered at the court at Worcester, and in 

1785 over 1,700 actions. Executions could be satisfied by cattle 
and other means besides money, thus putting the creditors at the 
mercy of the debtors. In 1786 Governor Bowdoin called a special 
session of the legislature, but the General Court failed to offer 
any relief to the people. Daniel Shays, who had been a captain 
in the Continental army, led a party of 1,000 men, took posses- 
sion of Worcester, and closed the courts. Shortly after he closed 
the courts in Springfield and held the town, demanding the sur- 
render of the arsenal. Governor Bowdoin finally decided on vig- 
orous measures, and 4,400 troops and two companies of artillery 
were enlisted to serve thirty days. £6,000 was raised in Boston 
to equip the army. General Lincoln was given command, and 
Shays's forces were overthrown on January 25, 1787, by one dis- 



IN THE WAKE OF THE REVOLUTION 109 

charge of grape-shot, which killed four men and scattered the rest. 
A reward of £150 was offered for the capture of Shays. It was 
not long before all were pardoned. Moses Harvey, who was then 
a member of the General Court, was sentenced to stand on the 
gallows an hour with a rope around his neck, to pay a fine of £50, 
and be expelled from his seat. 

At the April town meeting the petition of Mrs. Abigail Wood- 
ward was read, setting forth her inability to pay the taxes that 
had been laid upon her since 1785, and praying to be excused from 
any in the future, as the circumstances of her family were such as 
to render her unable to discharge them, and her petition, hav- 
ing had several readings, was finally granted. December 10, 
1787, Captain Abraham Bigelow was elected to represent the 
town in the convention to be held at the State House in Boston 
in January, 1788, to take into consideration the ratification of the 
Constitution, or form of government for the United States of 
America, as reported by the Convention of Delegates held at 
Philadelphia in the previous May. It is known that at the time 
of the Shays rebellion the governor of the State could place 
very little reliance upon the militia forces. The rank and file 
were to a very great extent in sympathy with those engaged 
in opposing the onerous taxation which was bringing ruin on the 
State. The officers (field and staff) were equally unreliable, 
and it was in consequence of this prevailing distrust that general 
officers were placed in command. At this period the "Indepen- 
dent Companies" w^ere organized and received their charters. 
Among these were the Weston Light Infantry and Medford 
companies. The following letter will explain the organization of 
our Weston company: — 

Weston, January 10, 1787. 

^i>'y — 111 Conformity with your advice I have encouraged the raising 
of a Company of Light Infantry in tlie town of Weston, which has been 
so far carried into effect that a sufficient number have associated for 
the purpose of choosing their Commissioned officers: and did on Monday 
the 1.5th Inst: at a meeting appointed for the business elect Abraham 
Bigelow Captain, William Hobbs Lieutenant and Ebenezer Hobbs Ensign 
of said Company. I therefore make this return of the proceedings of 
said Company with a request that your honor would give information 



110 HISTORY OF WESTON 

to His Excellency the Commander in Chief for the procurement of their 
Commissions. I am with respect Your Honors Obt Servt. 

Samuel Lamson, Colonel. 
To His Honor John Brooks, Major General. 

This letter is indorsed as follows : — 

It is my opinion that the formation of the above company will be for 
the advantage of the Commonwealth. 

[Signed] Jo. Brooks, Major General. 

In 1770 there had been formed at Cambridge a voluntary 
association of the collegians, and Governor Hutchinson had 
ordered the commander at Castle William to deliver one hundred 
stand of arms for their use. The history of this college company 
is very interesting. It continued to exist down to the period of 
the charter of the Weston company, when, it being difficult to 
find arms for this company, Captain Bigelow obtained the written 
consent of Dr. Willard, the president of the college, and applied 
to Governor Bowdoin for permission to receive the arms belong- 
ing to the college company. This permission was granted on 
condition that a reasonable compensation for the arms should be 
paid to the quartermaster. General Davis, for the use of the Com- 
monwealth. This was promptly done, and the arms removed 
from the college armory and delivered to the Weston company. 
The Weston company is reported to have joined the forces which 
passed through the town on their way to Springfield, but the 
town records make no mention of it, excepting that in town meet- 
ing the citizens refused to pay any bounty to the troops engaged 
in that expedition. The Weston Light Infantry continued in ser- 
vice till the 13th of May, 1831, when it was disbanded for insubor- 
dination at the muster-field in Watertown. The particulars of 
this affair, while not relieving them from the charge of conduct 
prejudicial to military discipline, will at least place their conduct 
in a light affording some excuse for their action on that day. 
The Weston company was attached to no regiment, reporting to 
the general of brigade. Its successive commanders were as fol- 
lows: Abraham Bigelow, 1787; Artemas Ward, Jr., 1789; Will- 
iam Hobbs, 1793; Alpheus Bigelow, 1797; Nathan Fiske, 1800; 




THE OLD JONATHAN WARREN PLACE, NORTH AVENUE. 

Built prior to 1780 and occupied then by tlie Widow Wright, afterwards wife of Jonathan 
Warren, Sr., father of Jonathan Warren, Jr., and of Mrs. Jonas Hastings, and grandfather 
of Rufus Warren. This place was occupied successively by F. V. Stowe, Samuel Patch, 
and others, and is now owned by Francis H. Hastings. 




THE FI«KE HOUSE, NORTH AVENUE. 

lUiilt in 1815 by Alonzo S. Fiske, then taking the place of the ancient hou.sc that had 
formed the Fiske home for many generations. In 1912 it was bought by W. F. Schrafft. 
Until this date the Fiske estate had been in the family since 1G73, and was originally a mile 
square. 



IN THE WAKE OF THE REVOLUTION 111 

Josiah Hastings, 1802; Isaac Hobbs, 1804; Thomas Bigelow, 
1808; Nathan Upham, 1809; Isaac Chikls, 1811; Isaac Train, 
1813; Charles Stratton, 1814; Henry Hobbs, 1817; Luther 
Harrington, 1818; Marshall Jones, 1821; Sewell Fiske, 1822; 
Elmore Russell, 1828.* 

A detail from this company was ordered, in the War of 1812, to 
guard the powder-house at Cambridge, namely: Sewell Fiske, 
Nathan Warren, Nehemiah Warren, Jesse Viles, Charles Bemis, 
William Bigelow, Henry Stratton, Jacob Sanderson, David Viles, 
Charles Morse. 

Major Daniel S. Lamson, Charles Daggett, William Harring- 
ton, Deacon Isaac Jones, and Cooper Garfield also took part 
in this war. Major Lamson was of the Third Middlesex Regi- 
ment, of which his father had been colonel. He was lieutenant- 
colonel of the regiment when he died in 1824. Cooper Garfield 
lived to be over one hundred years old, and died in 1875, hav- 
ing spent the last thirty-six years of his life in the Weston poor- 
house. The Weston Light Infantry, under Captain Sewell Fiske, 
attended the reception in 1824 given to General Lafayette at 
Concord. 

* The muster-roll of the independent company at the time of its charter in 1787, under 
Captain Abraham Bigelow, is not at hand. The roll of the company commanded in 1797 by 
Captain Alpheus Bigelow is as follows: — 

Captain Alpheus Bigelow. Privates: Ephraim Allen. 

Lieutenant Abijah Whitney. Elisha Furbush. 

Ensign Nathan Fiske. Amos Hobbs. 

Sergeant Josiah Hastings. Charles Hews. 

" Abraham Hews. Wm. Pitt Jones. 

" Isaac Hobbs. Samuel Lamson, Jr. 

" Nathan Hobbs. Amos Lamson. 

Music: Ebenezer Fiske. Ephraim Livermore. 

" Enoch Flagg. William Livermore. 

" Isaac Train. Joshua Locke. 

Privates: William Bogle. Charles Parks. 

David Brackett. Joseph Parks. 

Thomas Bigelow. Amos Pierce. 

Jonas Billings. Thaddeus Peirce. 

Lot Bemis. Isaac Peirce. 

Ebenezer Bullard. Abner Russell. 

Nathan Child. Josiah Starr. 

Solomon Child. Josiah Smith. 

Samuel Child. Nathan Spring. 

Jonas Coburn. Jacob Sanderson. 

Jonathan Fiske. Jonas Sanderson. 

Daniel Flagg. Amos Sanderson. 

A total of forty-four officers and privates. Captain Bigelow died in 1847 at the age of 
ninety. 



112 HISTORY OF WESTON 

The town vote for governor in 1788 gave 80 votes for John 
Hancock, but no other vote is recorded, which neglect occurred 
frequently. On May 9, 1788, news was received in Boston that 
the convention held in Philadelphia on the 28th of April had 
adopted the new constitution by a vote of 63 out of 74. 

At a town meeting held December 11, 1788, the vote was taken 
for the first representative of this district in the Congress of the 
United States under the new constitution. John Brooks received 
26 votes, and Hon. E lb ridge Gerry 20 votes. The vote was 
also taken for presidential electors, and Hon. Francis Dana re- 
ceived 58 votes, and Nathaniel Gorham 41 votes. 

In 1789 the town borrowed £50 of Harvard College and £50 
of Hon. Francis Dana. 

At a town meeting held September 3, 1789, a committee ap- 
pointed at the spring meeting to fix upon a location for a new 
burying-ground reported that they had selected the south-east 
corner of Captain Jones's field; that a lane 3 rods wide ran 
upon the east end of said field, about 12 rods, to the burying- 
ground, which with the lane is to certain 1^/2 acres, valued at 
£20. At the same meeting it was voted to allow Artemas Ward 
and others to build a number of pews in the rear part of the 
church, and apply the proceeds of their sale to discharge the 
town debt. These pews were sold to Artemas Ward (£29 14^.), 
Elias Jones (£27 I8s.), Nathaniel and Mirick Warren (£22 10^.), 
Nathan Hager (£20). Total, £100 2^., which sum was de- 
posited in the hands of the town treasurer. 

In October, 1789, General Washington, President of the United 
States, proposed a journey to the New England States, which 
he had not visited since the evacuation of Boston by the British 
army. He travelled in his own carriage, draw'n by four horses, 
and was accompanied by Mr. Lear and Major Jackson, his sec- 
retaries, and six servants on horseback. Notice was given in 
Boston that the President would reach Weston on October 23. 
He passed the night at the Flagg tavern, now the residence of 
Mr. Emerson, and while at Weston he wrote Governor Hancock, 
accepting an invitation to dinner the next day. The letter is 
dated at Weston. On the morning of October 24 he was waited 
upon by the inliabitants of the town, and Colonel Marshall wel- 



IN THE WAKE OF THE REVOLUTION 113 

corned him in an address, after which the notables of the town 
were presented to him. Among these were officers who had served 
under him in the Continental army. He was escorted to Cam- 
bridge by the Watertown cavalry company. His progress through 
the towns of New England was one uninterrupted ovation, the 
people far and near flocking along his route. To those who had 
belonged to his army the visit was particularly pleasing. They 
were greeted by the general with affection and consideration. 
It was while in Weston that Washington kissed Hannah Gowen, 
then a child, and it was for her a matter of great pride and glory 
as long as she lived. (For a visit of President John Adams to 
Weston see end of this chapter.) 

In 1791 the town ordered that the meeting-house be put in 
thorough repair and painted. The committee reported, April 
4, that in their opinion the back side of said house should be new 
clapboarded, that the glass should be removed, and new window- 
frames with glass, and new window-heads, be made, etc. From 
the date of the incorporation of the town there had been elected 
each year an officer whose duty was the preservation of deer, 
but from 1791 the election of this officer ceases. 

In 1792 Concord was made the shire town of Middlesex County, 
but Weston voted against it being so made. In 1791 and 1792 
small-pox prevailed extensively throughout the town, and in 
1792 the following houses were selected as pest-houses and places 
for inoculation: the Captain Fiske house on the north side, 
which was the first house built by that family, and stood on the 
hill back of the present location; Joel Smith's (this was proba- 
bly the poorhouse given to the town by his father); the Park- 
hurst house, now that of Oliver Robbins; Deacon Fiske's, now 
of Henry White; Ephraim Livermore's; the widow Upham's, 
now in Loring Place; Josiah Starr's; Joseph Seaverns's; Amos 
Lamson's, now of James Upham. The alarm occasioned by this 
epidemic and the large number of deaths caused very stringent 
measures to be enforced by the Selectmen. The physicians were 
required to give bonds that they would not allow any person to 
visit the hospitals but those they were to see thoroughly smoked 
when they withdrew therefrom; and that they would uniformly 
cause themselves to be smoked; that there be a smoke-house 



114 HISTORY OF WESTON 

erected at each hospital, and bounds set round about each hos- 
pital, to which those that had the distemper might come, and 
no further. There is no record of the number of deaths in Weston 
from small-pox. The dead were buried in the south-west corner 
of the old yard without ceremony and without headstones. 

Pleasure carriages were not introduced until the close of the 
century. The sole way of travelling was on horseback, the pil- 
lion-saddle being most in use, the father in front, the mother and 
small children on the pillion, the boys astride the horse's back as 
far as the crupper. The first chaise seen in Weston was owned 
and probably made by Isaac Hobbs, inasmuch as he made nearly 
all the vehicles of this sort used in Weston and neighboring towns 
for many years. 

In January, 1793, in honor of the French Revolution, a grand 
fete was held in Boston, in which neighboring towns joined. An 
ox was roasted whole, then decorated with ribbons and the flags 
of France and the United States, and placed upon a car drawn 
by sixteen horses, followed by carts loaded with 1,600 loaves of 
bread and two hogsheads of punch. The school children paraded, 
and cakes were distributed, marked "Liberty and Equality." 
A party of three hundred, with Samuel Adams, lieutenant- 
governor of the State, at their head, sat down to a dinner in 
Faneuil Hall. 

In 1795 a petition was presented to the town for a road from 
Abraham Harrington's, now Perry's, over the flat lands, around 
the base of Ball's Hill, and coming out on the Concord road, thus 
avoiding the great hill. The town objected, and chose Artemas 
Ward and Thaddeus Spring a committee to defeat the project. 
A petition was also presented that four seats nearest the wall in 
the front gallery of the church be removed, and converted into two 
pews, "to be decently furnished for the use of the singing men 
and singing women that already have or may hereafter acquire 
skill in that sublime art, as shall qualify them to carry on that 
part of the public worship of God in a decent and becoming 
manner." Fifty dollars was voted to encourage the art of sing- 
ing. It was also voted that a plan of the town be ordered made, 
with the length and direction of all the roads therein, with notice 
of all public buildings, etc. It is probable that this order of the 



IX THE WAKE OF THE REVOLUTION 115 

town was not carried out, as no such plan is in existence, so far 
as can be discovered. 

In 1796 is the first entry in the town accounts with substitution 
of dollars and cents for pounds, shillings, and pence. The change 
was slow and fitful. A sum of twenty dollars was voted for the 
relief of Samuel Livermore, Jr., who was reduced to straits by 
having his dwelling destroyed by fire. 

In 1791, as we have seen, the town had ordered the meeting- 
house to be repaired. In 1799 it was voted again to repair the 
house and erect a steeple on the tower, if the expense be paid by 
subscription. A committee was appointed to collect the sub- 
scription of the people for this purpose. The list is still in exist- 
ence, and should be among the parish records. 

There were sixty-eight subscribers for various sums, in all 
amounting to $414.75. The old bell was valued at $75.25, 
making total amount raised $490. The subscribers, however, 
make conditions that the additional expense for the sj)ire and 
purchasing a new bell, to weigh not less than 800 pounds, shall 
be paid by the town. The subscribers who have a right in the 
old bell shall have credit for their proportion of the amount of its 
sale in their subscription. The new bell was purchased of Paul 
Revere, as I have stated in Chapter I. A copy of his bill to 
the town, traced from his ledger in his own handwriting, is now 
in the vestry of the church. The cost of repairing the church and 
building the cupola and pews was over $3,000, and the proceeds 
of the sale of the new pews was $1,066, leaving a balance paid 
by the town of $1,431.03. 

The eighteenth century closed with great prosperity. The 
need of hard money was alone the drawback to large commer- 
cial ventures. In 1790 the whole capital of the United States was 
only $2,000,000, invested in Philadelphia, New York, and the 
Massachusetts Bank in Boston. In 1791 the National Bank of 
the United States was established with a capital of $10,000,000, 
but it did not commence business until 1794. The country at 
this time was thrown into political convulsions. The French 
Revolution was at its height, and the sympathies of Jefferson 
and his party were with the radical republicans of France. 
Among the Jeffersonians there was a feeling of gratitude for the 



116 HISTORY OF WESTON 

assistance rendered to the colonies by France in the American 
Revolution. Washington and Adams realized from the first the 
difference between the French republic and our own, and they 
had little confidence in or sympathy with the hot-headed French 
radicals. The French Convention, acting upon a claim they pre- 
tended to have upon this country for the aid rendered by France 
in our Revolution, treated our ports as a part of their own domin- 
ion, and fitted out privateers sailing from the United States. 
The French minister Genet finally became so overbearing and 
insulting as to render his dismissal necessary. The settlement 
of the eastern boundary with the English, together with their 
impressment of American seamen on the high seas, added other 
grounds of enmity in the country, and war between the United 
States, France, and England seemed inevitable. Jay's treaty 
with England put off the evil day, which, however, followed a 
few years later. The debt of the United States in 1799 was 
$78,408,669.77. 

We have already seen in the foregoing pages some account of 
the visit of President George Washington to Weston on his way 
to Boston in 1789, when he passed the night at Flagg's tavern. 
In 1798 we were visited by President John Adams, when he was 
on his way to Quincy. The Massachusetts Mercury of August 
17, 1798, gives a full account of the visit and his reception by the 
citizens of the town. The Mercury states that. 

Had it not been supposed here that the President of the United States 
had passed through a different road to his seat at Quincy, our company 
of Light Infantry, in complete uniform, would have met him at the line 
which divides East Sudbury from this town, and would have escorted 
him and his suite to Flagg's tavern, and have done him all military honors 
in their power. As the case was circumstanced, it was impossible. 

The address delivered by Hon. Samuel Dexter is signed by 
the following prominent persons among many: Samuel Dexter, 
Thomas Marshall, Samuel Kendal, Isaac Jones, Artemas Ward, 
Amos Bancroft, and Caleb Haywood. The address delivered by 
Mr. Dexter on behalf of the citizens was as follows : — 

To have the best government in the world, and that government ad- 
ministered in the best manner, is the distinguished lot of our happy 



IN TMK WAKE OF THE REVOIJ TlOX 117 

nation. Ever since tlie adoption of the Constitution we have felt its 
benign effects: hut in increased and increasing degree of hite; since all 
have now learned the important lesson to respect themselves and de- 
spise foreign influence. This we owe, in a high degree, to your wisdom 
and patriotism. No longer ignorant of the devises of our enemies, ac- 
quainted with their true character, and with the means of defeating their 
nefarious designs, union and fortitude we are persuaded will be our 
impenetrable shield. In the town of Weston, Sir, there are no disorgan- 
izers. When called to elect public men, our suffrages upon every occa- 
sion have proved our federalism: and we pray you to be assured that, 
while we shall continue firm in the cause of our Country, and he ready 
to defend it upon all emergencies, we shall not cease to implore the 
Supreme Governor of the universe to "think upon you for good, accord- 
ing to all you have done for the people." 

To this address President Adams made the following reply : — 

Gentlemen, — I thank you for this Address, in which much excellent sen- 
timent is expressed in a few words. If in any degree I have contributed 
to assist my Countrymen in learning the important lesson to respect 
themselves and despise all improper foreign influence, I shall not have 
lived in vain. I sincerely congratulate the Town of Weston on their 
signal felicity in having no disorganizers. Two or three of this descrip- 
tion of characters are sufficient to destroy the good neighborhood, inter- 
rupt the harmony, and poison the happiness of a thousand families. A 
Town that is free from them will ever prove their federalism in election, 
be firm in the cause of their country, and ready to defend it in all emer- 
gencies. Upon all such towns may the choicest of blessings descend. 



VIII. 

A Record of Forty Quiet Years. 
1800-1840. 

On June 1, 1801, by a tripartite agreement between Watertown, 
Waltham, and Weston, the towns of Waltham and Weston ceased 
to have any further obligation in the matter of keeping in re- 
pair the Watertown bridge over Charles River, which had for 
years been a great expense and no little annoyance to those towns. 

In 1802, complaints having been made that cattle were allowed 
to pasture in the old burying-ground to the injury of the graves 
and stones, a question arose as to the town's title to the land of 
said burying-ground. No record could be found of any deed, and 
Jonas Harrington, the then claimant of the soil, held that the 
town had no title to it, but only permission to bury their dead, 
the fee of the land remaining with him. In January, 1839, a deed 
of the land was, however, obtained. 

The town voted this year for representative in Congress, and 
Rev. Samuel Kendal had 32 votes, Hon. Timothy Bigelow had 
27, and Hon. Joseph B. Varnum had 21. It was also voted to 
build an armory and powder-house for the deposit of arms and 
ammunition, the Selectmen being a committee to build the ar- 
mory. The building was placed in the north-east corner of what 
later became the second "God's-acre," where it stood until the 
latter part of the '30 's, and after ceasing to be a powder-house 
was for a time used for the hearse. 

In 1803 it was voted to pay Rev. Mr. Kendal $130 a year, 
in addition to his salary, instead of his twenty cords of fire- 
wood. The town was summoned before the Supreme Court 
about the highway from East Sudbury to Waltham. Five hun- 
dred dollars was voted for the repairs of said highway, and Isaac 
Fiske was chosen to make answer before the court on behalf of 
the town. 

In 1804 Isaac Fiske was made town clerk. He held the oflSce 
for twenty-four years, until 1828, in which year Dr. Benjamin 



A RECORD OF FORTY QUIET YEARS 119 

James succeeded him. Dr. Kendal's salary, which had been 
$300, was raised to $550, a sum that included his firewood. The 
electors-at -large for President and Vice-President of the United 
States were in two party lists, nineteen in each list. The first 
list of electors received 97 votes each. The second list received 38 
votes. These two lists represented the federal and anti-federal 
parties. For representative to Congress Hon. Timothy Bigelow 
received 98 votes, and John Slack was elected representative for 
Weston at the General Court. 

In 1805 Moses Gill, of Princeton, releases to Reuben Carver his 
pew in the church and his title to the shed, and also all his rights, 
title, and interest in and to the Baptist meeting-house or any 
money due from said meeting-house, or society. 15y this it would 
appear that the first Baptist church was built upon the Nicholas 
Boylston place, Moses Gill by marriage being an heir to that 
property. The question came up of the advisability of selling 
the old poorhouse. The committee reported it to be capable of 
repair, and they add: — 

It having been argued that the town's owning such a house augmented 
their poor, we find among those who have been its inmates Mrs. Middle- 
sex and Cornell, altogether objects of pity. Very few there are who 
would be willing to act the good Samaritan and administer to their 
wounds. There are otliers the town has to provide for by boarding or 
hiring a house for them. The poor we shall have ever with us, and it 
is for the interest of the town to have a house. 

It was voted that, in the future, town meetings shall be warned by 
posting up the notice at the public meeting-house in the centre of 
the town. Before this regulation the constables gave notice of 
town meetings from house to house. It was also voted to lay 
out the Concord road from Dr. Bancroft's house, and $600 was 
appropriated for that purpose. It was voted to get a bath-tub 
for the town, probably for the poorhouse. 

In 1808 the Worcester Turnpike Corporation was established 
from Roxbury to Worcester, through Framingham. This new 
route shortened the distance between Boston and Worcester con- 
siderably, and took off many of the stage-coaches which up to this 
time had run through Weston. 



120 HISTORY OF WESTON 

In 1810 a committee was chosen to contract with Waltham, 
Watertown, and Newton for a road from Stony Brook to Water- 
town bridge; and it was agreed that the town would appropriate 
$2,000, provided said road be laid out by the court. It does not 
appear that this project was accomplished until some time later. 
It was voted to employ a music-teacher. 

It was voted in 1811 that the meeting-house be painted, the 
expense of the work to be drawn from the town treasury. 

War against England was declared early in 1812.* It had been 
threatening for many years, and matters had arrived at the stage 
when the United States was forced to assert itself or become 
little else but a dependence of England. The great prosperity 
of the New England States, particularly of Massachusetts, since 
1800, created strong opposition to warlike measures. The Em- 
bargo and Non-importation Acts of 1808 were bitterly opposed 
by this State. There was at this time fully as much disaffection 
expressed towards the general government as there was in the 
South previous to the breaking out of the Civil War in 1861. So 
strongly was this feeling expressed that it encouraged England to 
attempt to separate the Eastern States and have them unite with 
Canada. The party spirit between the federal and anti-federal 
factions was as bitter as we have seen was the case in 1795. A 
reference to the population and business interests of this section 
will explain the grounds of opposition to the war. By the census 

* While the not over-glorious War of 1812 eventually gave this country commercial inde- 
pendence and the freedom of the seas, it developed during the war a system of inland trans- 
portation between the North and the South by wagon, due to the suppression of the coasting- 
trade by the blockade of our ports. Great canvas-covered wagons, drawn by double and 
triple teams of horses or oxen, wound their way hke an Oriental caravan between Salem and 
Boston and intermediate cities to Augusta and Savannah. It was estimated that four thousand 
wagons and twenty thousand horses and oxen were employed in this transportation business. 
Two months went to a wagon-journey from Boston to Savannah; and what with the long 
time, the searches by customs officers for smuggled goods, and in New England the stoppage 
of Sunday travel by the tithing-men, and other mishaps of the way, the merchants became 
anxious for news of their ventures. So the wagons were named, and the teamsters instructed 
to keep a log of their meetings with other wagons, their destination and condition, and report 
to the newspapers of each town and city they passed through, the news to be published and 
copied by newspaper after newspaper for the benefit of the shippers. The journals entered 
into the spirit of the thing, and in the columns once devoted to shipping news recorded the 
wagon chronicles under such headings as "Horse Marine Intelligence," "Horse and Ox Marine 
News," "Jefifersonian Commerce." The wagons figured under such names as "Teazer," 
"Salt Hog," "Commerce Renewed," and "Old Times," "Sailors' Misery," "Cleopatra," 
"Don't give up the Ship," etc. One sample of the wagon "log" was this: "Port of Salem. — 
Arrived the three-horse ship Dreadnaught, Captain David Allen, 16 days from New York. 
Spoke in the latitude of Weathersfield the Crispin, Friend Allen, master, from New York, 
bound homeward to Lynn, but detained and waiting trial for breach of the Sabbath." 



A RECORD OF FORTY (^IIKT YKARS 121 

of the United States the popuhilion was '),9i).'),7H''2, of which the 
New England States and New York contained 2,615,587, ahnost 
half the population of the Union. The exports in 1811 amounted 
to $58,643,711, of which $27,045,425 was the amount from tlicse 
States. The tonnage of vessels was 1,424,000, and these six 
States owned 882,005 tons. Massachusetts alone owned 496,000 
tons, or more than a third of the total.* On the passage of the war 
act the six States voted in the House of Representatives against 
the war by a majority of 31 to 15, and in the Senate of 6 to 4. 

In July Governor Strong appointed a day of humiliation, fast- 
ing, and prayer, and on the day appointed the pulpits everywhere 
resounded with bitter invective against the war. The governor 
was very lukewarm during hostilities, and refused the requisi- 
tion of the general government for Massachusetts troops to go 
out of the State. It was only when danger threatened our terri- 
tory or seaboard that he took any active measures. The State 
has no records at the State House of this war. All documents 
relating to the action of the State were sent to Washington, when 
the claim was made for money due the State in the war, and they 
never have been returned. The claim of the State against the 
government has not been paid. 

In July a convention of the friends of the "Independence, 
Peace, Union, and Prosperity" of the United States (consisting 
of delegates from forty-three towns of Middlesex County) was 
held at Concord. Hon. James Prescott was made moderator, and 
Isaac Fiske, of Weston, was made secretary. There is no mention 
on the town records that he was a delegate of the town to the con- 
vention. A strong appeal to the people of the county was issued, 
and is still preserved. 

It was voted in town meeting that Cambridge should continue 
to be the shire town and that the jail should be kej)t there. 

Voted, That the soldiers, who volunteered and have actually been niiis- 
tered sliall draw from the treasury $3.25 each, and also those who shall 
hereafter be mustered. 

Votes were taken for electors-at -large for President and Vice- 
President of the United States. The first ticket had 5 candi- 

*Tbis includes Maine, which was not set off as a separate State until 1820. — Ed. 



122 HISTORY OF WESTON 

dates, and each received 93 votes. The second ticket had also 
5 candidates, and each received 61 votes. 

Voted, That proper gravestones be erected in memory of the Rev. Dr. 
Kendal, as large as those erected in memory' of the late Mr. Woodward, 
at the town's expense. 

Dr. Kendal died in 1814, after thirty-one years' service as 
pastor of the Weston church. 

In town meeting held April 16, 1814, it was voted that the town 
pay the expenses of Dr. Kendal's funeral, including mourning 
apparel for the family, but they refused to print the sermon 
preached by Rev. Dr. Osgood at the funeral of Dr. Kendal. 
Isaac Fiske, Deacon Warren, Ebenezer Hobbs, Deacon Bigelow, 
and Captain Isaac Hobbs were chosen a committee to hire a 
minister to supply the pulpit, and granted $550 for that purpose. 

Voted that the town accept the stove given by individuals, 
and that it remain in the meeting-house. 

Voted to ascertain the bounds of the town's land (?) on which 
the meeting-house stands, and to erect monuments and make a 
plan thereof. No report is made, and no bounds set. The land 
goes to the church, and the town has no claim upon it whatever. 
The town passed a similar vote about 1784, and then failed to 
find any deed or bounds. The same is the case with the sheds 
land. It was voted this year (1814) that the Selectmen cause 
new sheds to be erected, near the town's pound, "where, or near 
where, the old horse-sheds now stand, with the right of having 
them remain there during the pleasure of the town" (it should be 
of the church), "and no longer, provided they can agree with the 
proprietors of said horse-sheds; and also that they be authorized 
to place an estimate of said pound upon the land of the heirs of 
Isaac Lamson deceased, and provided also that the whole shall be 
done without any cost to the town." The pound land and also 
the land upon which the sheds are built are all one, and the fee is 
in the Lamson heirs. In the deed to Jonas Sanderson it is stated 
that the sheds are partly on town's land (church) and partly upon 
land of the heirs of Isaac Lamson. 

At a town meeting held December 27, 1814, it was voted to 
give Mr. Joseph Field, Jr., an invitation to settle in the ministry 



A IJECOUI) OF FORTY QIIFT YFAHS 123 

in the town of Weston, three only voting against it, as we have 
previously stated (see Chapter I., near end, for details of the 
ordination, etc.). 

At the March meeting in 1815 it was voted to remove the pews 
on the lower floor of the meeting-house, and also the body seats, 
and to erect in their place long pews, so as to cover the whole floor, 
excepting space for the aisles and stove; to lay a new floor; and 
to provide a new door, to swing outwardly. It was voted not to 
send any representative this year. 

At a town meeting held September 18, 1815, the Selectmen 
were empowered to agree and settle with the Boston Manufact- 
uring Company for all injuries or damages that have been done 
or may hereafter be done to the bridge and causeway over Charles 
River (so far as the limits are within the town of Weston) by 
reason of the dam which said manufacturing company has erected, 
etc. This was important, since the bridge was carried away and 
destroyed some years later, and it was said that the dam of that 
company was the cause. It was an accident that may occur 
again. 

It was voted in 1816 that all the inhabitants who shall pay 
their taxes within thirty days shall have an abatement of six per 
cent., within sixty days five per cent., and all within one hundred 
and twenty days four per cent. $1,000 was voted for Mr. Field's 
salary for this year, but the year following it is only the $800 
agreed upon with him. The addition of $200 was probably for the 
expense attending his settlement. Voted to build a new school- 
house in the South-west District. Voted that those soldiers who 
were drafted and served in the late war should be paid $14 per 
month for the time they served, and the same be allowed those of 
the Independent Light Infantry Company of Weston (who actu- 
ally served) upon a return made by the clerk of the company. 

In town meeting, March 3, 1817, voted to sell the old ])oor- 
house and land, and purchase a site for a new poorhouse. Voted 
$60 for salary of town treasurer and collector. 

In 1818 the committee appointed to purchase a site for the new 
poorhouse report that they have purchased of Ilabakkuk Stearns 
a farm on the northerly ])art of the town, containing about eighty 
acres with the buildings thereon, and have taken a deed therefor 



124 HISTORY OF WESTON 

for the sum of $2,513.27; that the expense for placing the afore- 
said premises in condition for the use of the town was $1,550.62; 
that they have sold the old poorhouse and land to Samuel G. 
Derby for $230, leaving a balance due from the town of $3,835.89. 

Voted in 1819 that the soldiers belonging to the town of Weston, 
whenever they are lawfully called to do military duty out of the 
town, shall each receive one dollar from the treasury, provided the 
clerk of the company shall certify that said duty was performed, 
said sum being in lieu of the powder now by law provided by the 
town when they are called to attend reviews. 

Daniel S. Lamson was made town treasurer in 1819. 

In 1820 $100 was voted for instruction in sacred music; also 
that a committee be appointed, consisting of three from the Con- 
gregational church, one from the Methodist, and one from the 
Baptist, who shall be authorized to draw said money for that 
purpose. 

At a town meeting held August 21, 1820, to consider whether 
it be expedient that delegates be chosen to meet in convention 
for the purpose of revising or altering the constitution of govern- 
ment of this Commonwealth, the vote stood as follows: in favor 
of appointing delegates, 35; against the appointment, 15; and 
Isaac Fiske was appointed such delegate. At a town meeting 
held November 6, 1820, to choose electors -at -large for President 
and Vice-President of the United States, Hon. William Phillips 
had 47 votes; and Hon. William Gray, 47. 

Dr. Benjamin James contracted with the town to inoculate the 
inhabitants of Weston with cow-pox for $50. 

Voted in 1824 that there be appropriated to the use of the 
soldiers of Weston so much of the powder and ball as the law 
requires each soldier to be furnished with, the same, however, to 
remain in the powder-house. Electors-at-large in 1824 for Presi- 
dent and Vice-President of the United States:. Hon. William 
Gray, 91 votes; Levi Lincoln, 91 votes. 

The contest in town meeting in 1826 over the election of a rep- 
resentative to the General Court was quite animated. Five ballots 
were taken, resulting finally in the election of Mr. Nathan Hobbs. 

The town meeting held April 2, 1827, was held in the hall of 
John T. Macomber's tavern; but, as all the other warrants of 



A RECORD OF FORTY QUIET YEARS 125 

town meetings are ordered to meet in the meeting-house of the 
town, it would appear there was a special meeting held at the 
tavern. It may be, however, that this was the first meeting out 
of the church. They w'ere so accustomed to follow^ old formulas 
in the warrants that it may be the meetings were henceforth 
held at the tavern. The warrants, however, order meetings at 
the church down to IS^O, when the church was ordered to be 
taken down. The contest over the election of representative 
occurs again this year. Four ballots were taken, and Alpheus 
Bigelow was elected. Mrs. Patience Lamson, widow of Daniel 
S. Lamson, api)lies for abatement of her taxes for 1825. The 
assessors report there was an error made. Her tax should be 
$9.15 instead of $23.63. 

In 1828 Mr. Isaac Fiske ceases to be town clerk, after filling the 
ofiice for a period of twenty-four years. He is succeeded by 
Dr. Benjamin James, who is also elected a selectman, assessor 
of taxes, and school committee man; and it was voted that the 
school committee should consist of three members only. In 
1828 it was voted that a committee provide a place for holding 
town meetings in the future. No report is on the records.* The 
tithing-men, who had been elected each year since the incorpora- 
tion of the town, from 1830 on ceased to be elected. 

In 1830 a petition was sent to the County Commissioners for a 
road from Luther Harrington's house to Ball's Hill. The town 
opposed the road as prayed for, and the Selectmen were authorized 
to employ counsel. Mr. Hoar was engaged. 

In 1832 to promote sacred music $100 was voted, and Charles 
Merriam, Uriali Gregory, and John Jones directed to spend the 
money. 

Voted in 1833 to extend the stone bridge over the watering- 
place and the canal, near the house of the late Dr. Kendal, and 
make the same passable. There had been here up to this time 
a place to water cattle and a driveway through it, as may be still 
seen in places in town. In old times, when there were large droves 

* No vote of the town ia recorded this year, 1828, for painting the meeting-house, as had 
been the case up to this time in all pertaining to the church. The painting, however, was 
done by private subscription. There were sixty-eight subscribers, and the sum raised was 
$190. [A Hst of the subscribers found among Colonel Lamson's papers puts the total sum at 
8178.— Ed.] 



126 HISTORY OF WESTON 

of cattle on their way to market, such places were not very far 
apart; and, where they were not near enough to each other, 
the farmers were induced to have wells and troughs for cattle 
near the road, and a certain abatement of taxes was made to induce 
the citizens to establish them. One of these pumps may still 
be seen in front of Mr. Frank Hastings's house. It was voted to 
build the road and bridge from a point near the barn of the late 
Abraham Bigelow to the centre of the brook at the Waltham line, 
so far as the same is within the limits of Weston, and $400 was ap- 
propriated for that purpose. Up to this time the road to Waltham 
had run over the bridge through the Sibley property back of the 
present main road. 

In 1834 a tract of land was purchased by the town from Isaac 
and Stephen Jones, to enlarge the burying-ground on its northern 
side to the great road, and one rod in width upon the west 
side, extending from the great road to the southerly side; to cause 
the walls to be removed and suitable gates erected, provided the 
same should not exceed the sum of $300. Voted that an abstract 
of the treasurer's account be prepared and 220 copies printed for 
the use of the town. This abstract was printed on sheets of paper 
about eighteen inches square. The publication of this abstract 
was probably not continued, inasmuch as only the one dated 
1834 can be found. They are now very rare, but one of them 
should be among the records. The publication of town reports 
in pamphlet form did not begin until the year 1844. In 1834 
Charles Merriam was made town treasurer. Voted to enlarge 
the East Centre School-house about twelve feet, and procure a 
title to the land on behalf of the town. Voted that the Selectmen 
procure a new building for a hearse-house or repair the old one, 
which had been the old powder-house in the burying-ground; but 
in 1835 the powder-house was sold by auction, for the space was 
needed to enlarge the ground. 

In 1835 the town authorized the treasurer to borrow $500 in 
anticipation of taxes. This is the first time authority was given 
to make any such loan. 

In 1836 Dr. James was elected to fill six offices of the town. 
It was voted to make the road between Dr. Field's meeting- 
house and the house of Mr. Alpheus Cutter in accordance with the 




THE SAMUEL PHILLIPS SAVAGE PLACE, NORTH AVENUE. 

Probably built by Mr. Savage, who died in 1797. This place was owned and occupied 
a long time by Captain Thomas Bigelow, .son of Josiah Bigelow, of Weston. It was later 
bought by Samuel G. Snelling, who extensively remodelled it about 1S80. It is now owned 
by the heirs of Samuel Lothrop Thorndike. 




THE WARREN HOUSE, LEXINGTON STREET. 

The main portion of the house was built in 1743. The new part was built in IS 10. This 
was known as the Benjamin Pierce, Jr., house previous to ISS."), when it was bought by Francis 
H. Hastings, and by him sold in 1893 to George H. Ellis. 



A RECORD OF FORTY QIIET YEARS 127 

order of the County Commissioners. Starr bridge, or, as it is some- 
times called. Stack bridge, and the causeway over (^harles River 
were ordered rebuilt of wood or stone, in conjiuiction with the town 
of Newton; the structure to be not less than eighteen feet wide 
in the clear, and the cost to the town not to exceed $1,000. This 
bridge was carried away, as has been stated, and }3robably by ice. 

The debt of the United States, which in the year 1791 was 
$75,463,476.52, was entirely paid ojff in 1835. The interest on 
this debt in 1816 was $7,156,500.42. In 1826 the interest was 
$4,000,000. After that year the government paid off, including 
interest, nearly $100,000,000 over and above current expenses; 
and so great was the general prosperity of the nation that the pay- 
ment of this large sum was but little felt by the people. 

In 1833 the six winter and summer schools cost the town 
$859.91; town treasurer's salary, $200; and the total expenses of 
the town were $1,468.95 with a population as large as that of 
to-day. 

In 1837 the town voted to procure a new hearse and pall, such 
as would be decent in appearance and respectable for the town. 
This hearse was kept in the north-end church shed, which, when 
the town house was built, reverted to the Lamson estate, and in 
1882 was sold by auction for $6. 

In March, 1837, the legislature passed an act, distributing by 
instalments to the towns of the Commonwealth the surplus 
revenue of the State. The treasurer of Weston was directed to use 
the fund as he received it, and pay off the indebtedness of the 
town. Weston received from the State treasurer $2,259.17, which 
paid the town debt at that time and left a balance in the treas- 
ury of $9.17. 

The city of Boston brought an action against the town for the 
support of Abijah Bemis, and the town defended the case. There 
is no record of the result, but later it was found that Bemis had 
been sent by the city to the House of Correction, and they applied 
to have him removed to the Weston poorhouse. 

The vote for governor in Noveml)er, 1837, was about equally 
divided between the Whigs and Locofocos. Edward Everett 
received 75 votes, and Marcus Morton 73 votes. Morton was 
elected governor of the State. There was considerable excite- 



128 HISTORY OF WESTON 

ment throughout the State at this election, and party spirit 
was rife. 

In 1837 great excitement prevailed throughout the State, grow- 
ing out of the rescue of the slave Shadrach by a mob that forcibly 
entered the Supreme Court room in Boston, and took him from 
under the nose of Judge Shaw, and secretly conveyed him to Con- 
cord. Francis Edwin Bigelow,son of Converse Bigelow of Weston, 
had removed to Concord about 1836. where he worked at the trade 
of blacksmithing until his death in 1893. He was one of the origi- 
nal Abolitionists, who at that early date had begun to make them- 
selves felt in the community. He harbored the fugitive Sha- 
drach, and drove him at night to Sudbury on his way to Canada, 
having clothed him in a suit of his own clothes, including a hat 
of Mr. Nathan Brooks. Later Elizur Wright, Lewis Hayden, 
Robert Morris, and others were arrested and brought to trial for 
aiding the rescue of the slave. They were defended by John P. 
Hale, of Maine, and Richard H. Dana, Jr. The most curious part 
of this strange episode is that Mr. Bigelow was summoned as a 
juror from Concord to sit upon the case to be tried. The eminent 
counsel had little hope of an acquittal, the evidence against the 
accused being so strong. To their surprise, notwithstanding the 
judge's charge to the jury, they were acquitted. Some years after 
Mr. Dana, meeting Bigelow, asked how the jury could bring in such 
a verdict after all the evidence. "Well," said Mr. Bigelow, "/ 
drove the ivagon that took Shadrach to Sudbury.'" Mr. Dana asked 
no more questions. When called upon to take the juror's oath, 
Mr. Bigelow said he felt some doubts, but, seeing an Abolition 
friend from Littleton take the oath, he thought he could do so, thus 
carrying out the "Higher Law" laid down by Theodore Parker. 

In 1838 the town ordered a new road to be laid out between 
the house of Isaac Jones and the house of Otis Train. The old 
road was too narrow and circuitous. The petitioners for this 
new road were Alpheus Morse, Otis Train, Abijah Upham, 
Swift Leadbetter, Samuel Train, Jr., Adolphus Brown, Mar- 
shall Brown, Henry Leadbetter, and Tyler Harrington. 

The great commercial and financial crisis of 1837 and 1838, the 
first of its kind since the Embargo Act of 1808, was seriously 
felt throughout the United States, and produced wide-spread 



A RECORD OF FORTY (^riHT YEARS 129 

ruin, but was not of a kind materially to affect the agricultural 
interests of our people. 

The years 1888 and 1839 were noted for the great crusade 
against the indiscriminate sale of liquor. It was in fact a tem- 
perance movement. George W. Cutting was arrested for the 
sale of liquor, and taken to Cambridge jail. Joel Smith was 
summoned as a witness, but did not see fit to obey the summons. 
He also was arrested and sentenced to a week's imprisonment 
and a fine of $50 for contempt of court. 

In 1839 took place the Dedham muster, locally famous in story 
and song. This was better known as the Striped Pig Muster, 
and was the last of the rollicking musters so famous in the old 
times. There was more of fun and frolic at these old meets 
than drilling, more of drunkenness than discipline; and yet 
there was this about them, — they kept up among the farmers 
and their sons military organizations now comi)letely gone out 
of date. Towns that formerly had one, two, and three com- 
panies, now have none, and there are many towns that have 
not a single inhabitant belonging to any military company. 
The militia of to-day is made up of the inhabitants of large cities 
and manufacturing centres, to the utter exclusion of the yeomanry, 
and we shall be fortunate if we escape the realization of this error 
in the near future. 



IX. 

The Story of the Town from Year to Year. 
1840-1860. 

With the close of the year 1839 that which can be called the 
ancient history of Weston closes. With the year 1840 begins a 
new era, within the memory of many now happily living. We 
cannot enter upon this period without making a few reflections 
in keeping with the subject-matter of this book. All that relates 
to the past of our town and country is hallowed to us of the pres- 
ent day by story and tradition, and a comparison with all that 
has gone before with that which follows is not in every respect 
to the advantage of the times we live in. Every period of time 
has its special defects, but it is essential that the moral element 
be kept at a high level, if these defects are to be safely overcome. 
As the American people progress in wealth, comfort, and luxury, 
and enjoy all those appliances in every-day life which were un- 
known to our ancestors, it is to be feared that the young men 
and women are losing sight of those sturdy moral principles which 
gave force and decision to the early settlers. Faith in God is 
not so firmly established in the minds and hearts of youth as was 
formerly the case. Education has become materialized, and the 
aims of life have taken in consequence a more sordid and vulgar 
level. 

The marvellous progress of our country in every walk of life, 
unparalleled the world over, may be said to date from 1840, 
when railroads came in and horse chaises began to disappear. 
Families are not so large now, and perhaps we can say with 
equal truth that their virtues are less prominent. Time has be- 
come so valuable in the pursuit of wealth and comfort that it is 
thought wasted upon local affairs over which our sires fought 
with a tenacity little untlerstood or appreciated to-day. People 
throughout New England do not love the town meetings as they 



THE STORY OF THE TOWN FROM YEAR TO YEAR 131 

used to do. Trivial matters, such as money grants, low taxation, 
sanitary measures, good order, and discipline, are left to the few 
ambitious of local honors, and the inliabitants transfer all re- 
sponsibility and interest to the hands of those who will do the least 
work for the most pay. The result of all this is that the State is 
yearly encroaching upon the rights of towns that no longer care 
to preserve their liberties, the best guardians of which are the old 
town meetings, the corner-stone of the Constitution of the United 
States. While generous sums are being spent on education, 
our boys and girls are less able to cope with the labors and diffi- 
culties of every-day life than were their fathers and mothers 
before them, who little enjoyed the privileges purchasable by the 
plethoric purse of the tax-payer or the liberal State bounties. The 
fundamentals in education are being less thought of, and seem to 
be giving place to 'ologies and 'isms, which, while perhaps more 
ornamental, are but poor aid to people in the battle of life. 

The majority of farm lads find themselves incapable of doing 
the work of the farms or unwilling to do it. Consequently, these 
are passing into the hands of the stranger or the foreigner. Young 
men flock to the cities, where the scramble for employment each 
year becomes greater, and where they sacrifice their independence 
to do the bidding of their wealthy employers, who rarely take 
them into their confidence. Unless young men, who go out from 
their modest, happy homes into large cities, are established in 
sound moral and religious principles, they become careless in their 
methods of life, and are easily led into unscru})ulous business 
transactions. When the country loses $8,000,000 in one year by 
fraud and dishonesty, it is time to study a remedy; and this can 
be found in a higher standard of moral education rather than in 
the broad range of study which educates the mind at the expense 
of the heart. 

The year 1840 oi)ens with the taking down of the old church 
which stood u])on the church green and the action taken l)y the 
town in connection therewith. Some of the steps taken will be 
new to many of usi and, although not carried out, it will be in- 
teresting to state them here as a part of the history of that period. 
Before doing so, however, the reader uuist l)e told of a feat per- 
formed by Joel Harrington and Elisha Whitney. They climbed 



132 HISTORY OF WESTON 

to the top of the hghtning rod of the church steeple, drank a 
bottle of wine on the top, and left their tumbler on the rod, where 
it remained until a hawk is said to have picked it off. 

At a town meeting held May 4, 1840, the committee appointed 
at a previous meeting reported that they had conferred with Rev. 
Dr. Field's parish upon the subject of the construction of a new 
meeting-house in such a manner as should furnish a convenient 
place for holding town meetings and for other public purposes. 
They w^ere to agree upon cost, making proposals to the committee 
of the parish as to the terms upon which the same should be done ; 
and also to ascertain whether a convenient spot of land could be 
procured upon which to build a town house, and what a town 
house would cost. 

Your committee was in conference with said church committee, who 
propose a building 60 feet in length and 46 feet in breadth, with a base- 
ment story, or hall, under it of the same dimensions, with one conven- 
ient room partitioned off for the use of the Selectmen, and another for 
the assessors of the Town, which they offered to do for $1,300, or what- 
ever sum the contractors shall say will be the actual cost. That when 
completed to the acceptance of the Town, they will convey the same 
to the Town of Weston, will covenant to keep the same externally in 
good repair and will also covenant to pay over and refund to the said 
Town the original cost of the same whenever the said house shall be 
permitted to fall into decay, or cease to be occupied as a Meeting house 
for the Worship of Almighty God. The Committee of the Town are 
of opinion that a convenient spot of land and a building for the Munici- 
pal and other public purposes sufficiently capacious, durable, and comely 
would cost the town $2,500; they are therefore, on the principle of 
economy, of the opinion that an agreement be made with the Parish for 
the accommodation of the Town, or with some individual whereby the 
town may be permanently accommodated, and a committee of five was 
appointed with ample powers to effect the same. 

Alpheus Bigelow, Jr., 
Isaac Jones, 
Ezra Warren, 
Amos Warren, 

Committee, 

It was voted to accept the proposal of the parish committee, 
the expenses of which were to be determined by the contractors, 
together with Oliver Hastings, of Cambridge, and Samuel Sanger, 



THE STORY OF THE TOWN FROM YEAR TO YEAR 133 

of Brighton; and the treasurer was authorized to borrow the 
money and give his notes for the same. 

The town meeting last held in the old church was on May 4, 
1840. At the town meeting of April 6, 1840, the citizens voted 
for and against a proposed article of amendment to the Consti- 
tution, as follows: for, 35; against, 45. 

In accordance with the militia law of the Commonwealth the 
town made a return of those inhabitants of Weston subject to 
military duty for the year 1840. They numbered 147 men. 
This law is still in force, and returns are made each year to the 
State. The votes this year for electors-at-large for President and 
Vice-President of the United States were William P. Walker, of 
Lenox, 116 votes; Ebenezer Fisher, of Dedham, 116; Isaac C. 
Bates, of Northampton, 83; and Peleg Sprague, of Boston, 83. 
The vote for governor was 118 votes for Marcus Morton, and 
82 for John Davis. William Spring was elected representative 
to the General Court from Weston. Eleven guide-posts were 
erected in several parts of the town in 1840 in accordance with a 
law of the Commonwealth. The town debt in 1840 was $4,241.55. 
An inventory was taken of property belonging to the town, but 
no valuation of said property is reported. 

In 1841 it was voted that the name of no person shall be re- 
tained on the jury list unless as many as 10 votes are cast in 
his favor, and that eath shall be voted upon separately. 

Samuel H. F. Bingham was elected to the General Court. 

In 1843 an agreement was made by the committee appointed 
to contract for a place to hold town meetings, and they reported 
that a lease had been made with Marshall and John Jones for 
five years, at a yearly rental of $30, for the hall in the dwelling- 
house near Rev. Mr. Field's meeting-house, for the purpose men- 
tioned and for other town business. Meetings had already been 
held in this hall since 1840. 

In 1843 it was voted to have Town Reports printed in a pam- 
phlet form, and a copy distributed to each family. This pam- 
phlet appeared in 1844, and has continued to be issued in this 
form down to our own time. 

In 1844 the town voted to build a barn on the poor-farm, 40 
by 50 feet, and 16-feet posts. Five hundred dollars was ap- 



134 HISTORY OF WESTON 

propriated for that purpose. The actual cost of the barn, when 
finished, was $828.50. The vote for governor of the State was: 
George Bancroft, lO^ votes; George N. Briggs, 100. Edwin 
Hobbs was elected to represent the town in the legislature. 

As early as 1845 a petition of Leonard C. Drury and others 
for the widening and straightening of the road between the meet- 
ing-house and Hobbs 's Depot was sent in, but opposed by the 
town. It was done, however, on an extensive and expensive 
scale, costing the towai about $8,000. This road is now called 
Church Street. The vote this year stood 49 for George N. Briggs 
and 60 for Isaac Davis. No representative was sent to the 
General Court this year. 

At a town meeting held March 1, 1847, a vote of thanks was 
proposed, and unanimously carried, to be presented to Dr. Benja- 
min James for his long and faithful services as town clerk. He 
had held the position since 1828, a period of nineteen years. Dr. 
James was succeeded by Mr. Nathan Hager in the ofiice. The 
school committee was directed to draft a plan for a high school. 

In May, 1847, it was voted to build a town house, and Benjamin 
Peirce, Nathan Hager, and Marshall Jones were appointed a 
committee for said purpose. June 7 this committee reported: — 

That the plan of a house, such as we think would be satisfactory when 
completed, should be 60 feet long, including the colonnade, 40 feet wide, 
and two stories high. The cost of such a house finished like those in 
neighboring towns would probably be about $3,000. Town Committee 
would recommend that the Town House be located on the northerly 
side of the meeting-house Common, which is now occupied by a pound 
and for horse-sheds and a highway, provided satisfactory arrangements 
can be made with the parish and the owners of the sheds. 

It was voted that acceptance of the report be decided by a 
yea and nay vote. The result was: yeas, 76; nays, 46. A 
resolution was also carried that the committee be authorized 
to hire the money for all expenses pertaining to the building of 
said house. 

December 13, 1847, the committee reported that the expense 
incurred in erecting and furnishing the town-house building 
amounted to $4,078.62, which amount was then due. At this 
meeting it was voted that any inhabitant or inhabitants of 



THE STORY OF THE TOWN FROM YEAR TO YEAR 135 

Weston shall have a right to the use of the hall for singing or 
lectures or discussions on any subjects which are intended to 
diffuse useful knowledge in the community, provided they are 
free to all, and that they furnish fire and light. Voted that the 
next town meeting be held in this house. The vote for governor 
in 1847 stood 76 for George N. Briggs and 57 for C. Gushing. 

At a town meeting held March 6, 1848, it was voted that the 
lower rooms in the town hall may be used for school purposes. 
Voted that all demands for abatement of taxes, heretofore passed 
upon in open town meeting, be henceforth referred to the assessors 
for their action thereon. In 1848-49 no vote is recorded for a 
representative to the General Court. Otis Train was sent in 
1847. 

In 1851 it was voted to build three new school-houses, one in 
the North-west District, one in the North-east District, and one 
in the West Centre District, which three houses cost $4,111.92. 

At a town meeting held November 10, 1851, on the question 
"whether it was expedient that Delegates be chosen to meet in 
Convention for the purpose of revising or altering the Constitu- 
tion of this Conunonwealth," the vote was as follows: yeas, 58; 
nays, 94. 

Again, in 1852, the same question arose as to the appointment 
of delegates in convention for the same purpose, resulting in a 
tie vote, 76 to 76, and Edwin Hobbs was chosen delegate. 

In accordance with the law passed by the legislature in June, 
1855, concerning the sale of s])irituous liquors, the Selectmen 
appointed Joel Upham an agent for the i)urchase of spirituous 
and intoxicating liquors to be used in the arts or for medicinal 
purposes in the town of Weston. 

At a town meeting held March 3, 1856, a breeze was created 
after the election of the Selectmen and town clerk. Objections 
were made by J. Q. A. Harrington to these officers being sworn, 
on the ground that the check-list had not been used in their 
election, as required by law. It was decided to go back and 
proceed to a new election. The vote, as declared, elected John 
A. Lamson town clerk, and Nathan Barker, Luther Upham, and 
Edward Coburn Selectmen, John A. Lamson acting as town 
clerk. Nathan Ilager, who was undoubtedly legally elected 



136 HISTORY OF WESTON 

town clerk and had been sworn as such, entered into the book 
of town record at the close of the meeting that "the proceedings 
of this meeting are irregular, informal, illegal, and do not form 
part of the Records of the Town of Weston." 

At a town meeting held November 3, 1857, it was voted by 
the citizens assembled to establish a library, to be called the 
"Weston Town Library," for the use of the inhabitants thereof. 
They chose Isaac Fiske, Dr. Otis E. Hunt, and Rev. C. H. Top- 
liff a committee to prepare rules and regulations for the organi- 
zation and government of the library. This committee reported, 
December 21, 1857, "that the people of Weston, impressed with 
the necessity and importance of a public library, commenced a 
subscription in the several school districts for this purpose." 
The movement was initiated by a committee of twelve gentle- 
men and seven ladies, with the result of a subscription of about 
$500 in money and donation of books valued at about $70. It 
was voted to choose a library committee of six members by ballot, 
and Rev. C. H. Topliff, Otis E. Hunt, Charles Dunn, Nahum 
Smith, J. Q. Loring, and Isaac Coburn were chosen, with Marshall 
Jones as treasurer of the library. 

In 1858 appears the first vote by district for representative 
to the General Court. George W. Warren, of Weston, had 74 
votes, Nathan Barker 34, and Julius M. Smith, of Concord, 27. 

In 1859 Mr. Charles JNIerriam donated $1,000 to be appropri- 
ated for the purchase of books for the town library. It was 
voted that this sum be securely invested, and no part of the 
principal be expended for the above purpose for a period of ten 
years. This money is still invested, and the interest alone de- 
voted to the purchase of books. 

Voted that the thanks of the town be tendered to Marshall 
Jones for his long and faithful services as town treasurer. Mr. 
Horace Hews at the same meeting was chosen town treasurer, 
which office he held until 1889, when in consequence of failing 
health he felt obliged to resign the trust which he had held 
for thirty years. Mr. Hews's resignation was much regretted, 
and sympathy was expressed for him by all. 



X. 

War Veterans, Railroads, etc. 
1860-1890. 

At the town meeting:? of April 2, 1860, the committee appointed 
to report on the condition of the poorliouse deposed that, 

with regard to the plan of "letting out" the poor to board with the 
one who would do it the cheapest, we can only say that the time has 
gone by when a course so advisedly opposed to every good principle 
can ever again be adopted. We have considered it a settled policy of 
the town to support their poor upon a farm of their own. We believe 
they should be provided with a warm and comfortable shelter, with whole- 
some food and proper raiment. We do not feel that it would be wise 
or pohtic for the town to exchange the present location for another 
one. We believe a building might be erected at an expense not exceed- 
ing $2,500. It has been said that the town is in debt and that much 
money has been expended duruig the last ten or fifteen years. If money 
has been expended, it has not been wasted or squandered, but has been 
wisely and judiciously expended, giving us an equivalent in our neat 
and commodious public buildings. 

Voted that Edwin Hobbs, Horatio Hews, Isaac Coburn, 
Alpheus Morse, and John W. Harrington be a committee to build 
the house on the town farm, for the best interest of the town, 
and that they be authorized to draw on the treasurer for the 
money. In November, 1861, this committee reported the build- 
ing as completed, 3'-2 by 40 feet, with an "L" 14 by 34 feet, at a 
cost of $2,450. School appropriation, $1,629.28. Town debt, 
$3,700. Treasurer's salary, $2.5. 

The list returned to the State of those inhabitants of the town of 
Weston subject to military duty in the year 1860 formed a roster 
of 161 men. The vote for the governor this year stood: John A. 
Andrew, 100 votes; xVmos A. Lawrence, of Boston, 39; Benjamin 
F. Butler, 4. In the fall of the year 1860, when the clouds were 
thickening over us, but before any overt act had been committed 



138 fflSTORY OF WESTON 

by the slave States, a Home Guard was organized by Captain 
D. S. Lamson for the purpose of drill and general preparation 
for future contingencies. The men purchased their own arms, 
which were deposited in the town hall. About fifty young men 
joined the company, and were drilled in the manual of arms and 
street marching. This company never entered a regiment as a 
whole, but all its members enlisted in regiments as they were 
later formed by the State. 

In June of the year 1861 Mr. Lamson was appointed major of 
the Sixteenth Regiment, which was then forming at Camp Cam- 
eron, North Cambridge. The mustering into the service of the 
United States for three years took place July 13, 1861. The 
vote for governor this year stood: John A. Andrew, 74 votes; 
Isaac Davis, 80. In the same year the town treasurer was chosen 
to be collector of taxes. Heretofore it had been the custom, 
from the earliest period of the town records, to put up the duty of 
collecting the taxes to the highest [ ? ] bidder, and the sums awarded 
for this duty varied from one cent and five mills to one cent and 
six mills on a dollar. Isaac Fiske, Esq., who had died, bequeathed 
three hundred dollars for the town library. 

At a town meeting, July 19, 1862, it was voted to pay a bounty 
of $100 to each man who should enlist in the army of the 
United States for the purpose of fighting the South, till the 
quota of seventeen required of the town should be furnished, 
the bounty payable on presentation of a certificate that the vol- 
unteer had been accepted and mustered into the service. In 
August this bounty was increased to $200 "to all w^ho enlist 
within ten days for nine months." The town further voted to give 
to each man now or hereafter to enlist $10. Twenty-six young 
men enlisted, and the town voted to pay them the above bounty, 
although the number exceeded the quota of the town. It was 
also voted that the treasurer give a note to any of the volunteers 
for his boimty, jiayable on demand at six per cent, interest. 

At a town meeting, September 27, 1862, the following reso- 
lution was carried: — 

That, whereas we have learned tliat Ralph A. Jones, one of our volun- 
teers, has fallen in battle, and that others are known to be wounded, 
therefore Resolved, That the Rev. C. H. Topliff proceed to Maryland and 



WAR VETERANS, RAILROADS, ETC. 



139 



16th Regt. Infantry 



recover, if possible, the body of said Jones or any others tliat have since 
died, and attend to the wants of the wounded men suffering in any of 
the hospitals. Voted, That in case of the death of any volunteers of the 
town whose families are entitled to State aid the same shall be con- 
tinued to them. 

At a town meeting, October 11, 1862, Rev. Mr. Topliff re- 
lated the incidents of his journey to Maryland. A committee 
was ajjpointed to make the necessary arrangements for the funeral 
of Ralph A. Jones. The following is the list of volunteers, in the 
service of the United States for three years, from the town of 
Weston : — 

Daniel S. Lamson Major 

William Henry Carter 
Ebenezer Tucker 
John E. Powers 
Charles L. Field 
Lewis Jones 
Philip J. Meyer, Jr. 
John Robinson 
Warren Stickney 
Adoniram J. Smith 
Thomas Palmer 
Edward Banyea 
William G. Clark 
Frank W. Bigelow 
Henry H. Richardson 
Thomas Fahey 
David E. Cook 
John W. Drew 
John L. Ayer 
Lemuel Smith 
Charles Roberts 
Samuel Patch, Jr. 
Henry A. Tucker 
George T. Tucker 
Andrew Floyd 
Wm. C. Stimpson, Jr. 
Frederick A. Hews 
Joseph Smitli 
George G. Cheney 
William Henzy 
Charles G. Fisher 
Ralph A. Jones 



Co. H 


26th 


" Infantry 


" M 


1st 


" Cavalry 


" H 


16th 


" Infantry 


Lieutenant 


99th 


" New York 


— 


1st 


" Cavalry 


— 


2d Battery Artillery 


Co. H 


24th : 


Regt. Infantry 


Corporal Co. H 


16th 


" " 


Co. G 


22d 


<< << 


" H 


16th 


« " 


— 


.5th 


Vermont 


Co. H 


16th 


" Infantry 


Sergeant Co. G 


13th 
16th 


» 


— 


9th 


<( (< 


— 


35th 


" Sappers and Miners 


— 


35th 


" Infantry 


Co. I 


35 th 
35th 




" " 


35th 




" " 


35 th 




" " 


35th 




" " 


35 th 




" " 


35th 




" " 


35 th 




" " 


35th 




" " 


35th 




<( (( 


35th 




«. «. 


35th 




" " 


35th 




" " 


35th 





140 



HISTORY OF WESTON 



Andrew C. Badger 
Daniel H. Adams 
Jabez N. Smith 
James M. Fairfield 
Daniel Keyes 
Sefroy Britten 



Co. I 



35th Regt. Infantry 
35th " 
35th " 
38th " 
41st " 
3d Rhode Island Battery 



The following are nine months' men under the call of August 
4, 1862:— 



Henry L. Brown Co. I 


44th Regt. Infantry 


Charles E. Cutter ' 




44th 






George E. Rand ' 




44th 






Albert Washburn ' 




44th 






Edward L. Cutter 




44th 






Marshall L. Hews ' 




44th 






Edwin P. Upham ' 




44th 






James A. Cooper 




44th 






Francis H. Poole ' 




44th 






Samuel H. Corliss 




44th 






George W. Rand * 




44th 






George C. Floyd ' 




44th 






Isaac H, Carey ' 




44th 






Herbert B. Richardson ' 




44th 






Wm. C. Roberts 




44th 






Jolm Coughlin 




44th 






Benj. A. Drake * 




44th 






James M. Palmer * 




44th 






George E, Hobbs ' 




44th 






George J. Morse ' 


' C 


44th 






Henry W. Day ' 


' H 


44th 






Abner J. Teel 


' " 


43d 






Saml. W. Jolmison ' 


' " 


43d 






H. lUingsworth ' 


' E 


43d 






Fuller Morton 


' " 


43d 






H. A, Whittemore ' 


i c< 


43d 






Walker W. Roberts 


' A 


43d 






Caleb W. Lincoln * 


' E 


6th 






Ferdinand Dagsburg 


— 


16th 







Making a total of thirty-eight three years' men and twenty- 
nine nine months' men. Of the thirty -three men drafted at Con- 
cord, July 18, 1863, twenty-eight were exempted, one commuted, 
two found substitutes, and two entered the service, one of whom 
(Lucius A. Hill) was killed, May 10, 1864. 



WAR VETERANS, RAILROADS, ETC. 141 

The following 16 men enlisted and constituted the quota of 
Weston under the call of the President, October 17, 1863: — 

Daniel J. Webber, 2d Mass. Cav'ry William Chandler, 2d Mass. Cav'ry 

Henry W. Ober, 2d " " John Vaughn, 59th Reg. Infan'y 

Joy Chandler, 2d " " Peter Richie, 2d Heavy Artill'y 

Walter Webster, 2d " " Nicholas Besson, 2d 

John Conners, Heavy Artillery Michael Durfee, 2d " " 

John S. Doane, 5th Mass. Batt'y Hugh J. Sharpe, 56th Reg. Infan'y 

George Crosby, 5th Mass. Batt'y John O'Connell, 1st Cav'ry 

John W. Stowell, 7th Reg. Infan'y Mchl. Cavanaugh, 56th Reg. Infan'y 

The enlistment under the additional call of 200,000 men, four- 
teen being Weston's quota, was as follows: — 

James Welch, 59th Regt. Arthur Martm, 3d Cavalry 

Charles H. Burton, 59th " William Barry, 4th 

John Lund, 59th " Charles A. Fitch, 5th 

Joseph Faybien, 59th " John Robinson, 24th Regt. 

Daniel Robinson, 56th " William H. Carter, 26th Regt. 

William C. Roberts, 55th " William Carnes,* U.S. Navy. 
James J. O'Conner, 4th Cavalry 

The vote for governor stood: John A. Andrew, 78 votes; 
Charles Devens, Jr., 64. It was voted that "the Rev. Mr. Top- 
liff be a committee of one to bring home the bodies of any of 
our soldiers who have or may hereafter fall in battle and render 
any assistance necessary to our sick or wounded soldiers." 

The town debt as reported by the treasurer was stated to be 
$20,072.82. In April, 1863, bonds were ordered for $10,000 of 
the town debt, payable in ten years from May 1, at five per cent, 
interest. The bonds were to have interest coujjons attached, 
signed by the town treasurer, payable semi-annually each year. 
These bonds to be issued in sums of $100, $250, and $500 each. 
In 1863 John A. Andrew had the entire vote of the town for 
governor. Xi a town meeting, November, 1863, Nathan Hager, 
town clerk, having died on the 14th of that month, Horace Hews 
was chosen town clerk pro tern. Mr. Hager had been town clerk for 
twenty years. He had filled various other offices of trust, and the 
town was indebted to him for his judicious management of their 
affairs. It was voted that the resolution passed March 7, 1864, 

* Died in Andersonville Prison in 1864. 



142 HISTORY OF WESTON 

be transmitted to his family and entered on the records of the 
town. 

Voted that a committee of six be appointed, one for each dis- 
trict, to assist the recruiting officer in filUng the town quota of 
troops, and $3,200 was placed in their hands for that purpose. At 
a town meeting held on November 28, 1863, Horace Hews, 
clerk pro tern., declined to serve longer, and Benjamin F. INIorrison 
was chosen clerk pro tern. The Selectmen appointed Dr. Otis 
E. Hunt clerk until another should be legally chosen. 

At a town meeting held on March 7, 1864, George W. Cutting, 
Jr., was chosen clerk. Three hundred dollars was voted for hay 
scales, which were to be of the size called ten tons. In May the 
town voted $125 a man, if necessary, "to aid in filling any and 
all calls that the general government has made or shall make 
upon this town for soldiers for the year ending in March, 1865." 

In 1864 the quota of Weston for three years' men was twelve, 
and they were all hired by the town. 

The number of men furnished by Weston during the War of 
1861-65 was a hundred and twenty-six. Of these eight were 
killed, three died of wounds, and one in prison. The names of 
the killed are as follows: — 

Ralph A. Jones, killed at Antietam, September 17, 1862, 35th Regiment. 

James M. Fairfield, killed at Port Hudson, June 1, 1863, 38th Regiment. 

William Henzy, killed at Knoxville, November 20, 1863, 35th Regiment. 

Lucius A. Hill, killed at Laurel Hill, May 10, 1864, 22d Regiment. 

John Robinson, killed at Drury Bluffs, May 14, 1864, 24th Regiment. 

George T. Tucker, killed at Petersburg, July 4, 1864, 35th Regiment. 

William H. Carter, killed at Winchester, September 19, 1864, 26th 
Regiment. 

William C. Stimpson, killed at Poplar Springs, September 20, 1864, 
35th Regiment. 

The following soldiers of Weston died of wounds in hospital: — 

Frederick A. Hews, 35th Regiment; died in Washington, January 5, 
1863. 

Fuller Morton, 43d Regiment; died in Kingston, N.C., January 6, 1863. 

Edmund L. Cutter, 44th Regiment; died in Newbern, N.C., April 31, 
1863. 

William Carnes, United States Navy; died in Andersonville, June 13, 
1864. 




THE CUTTING HOUSE, LEXINGTON STREET. 

This is on the original Warren estate, where John Warren, Sr., settled soon after his 
arrival from England in 1031. For over a century and sinoe the marriage of Cynthia Warren 
to the senior .lohn f 'iittins it has been the home of the Cutting family. 




Till-; OLD Dli. WOOOWAKl) llolSi;, COXCOKI) STIII I I 

Built by Rev. Mr. Woodward when pastor of the chureh at Weston, preceding Dr. Kendal. 
It was later owned by Dr. Bancroft, the town physician, and here Dr. George C. Shattuck, 
of Boston, studied with Dr. Hancrt)ft. It was bought by .\ugustus H. Fiske in 1848, and is 
still owned by his descendants. 



WAR VETERANS, RAILROADS, ETC. 143 

The amount the town y>ukl for bounties ihirinjij the war was 
$9,0'-2o; the expenses attendant upon drafts were $3,524.90; a total 
of $15,549.90. To this total voted by the town must be added the 
money raised by voluntary subscription, amounting to $5,104.95, 
or a total of $17,654.85. To this amount must be added the sum 
paid for recovering the bodies of George T. Tucker, William 
H. Carter, and John Robinson, killed in battle ($416.03),— making 
a grand total of $18,070.88, which must be admitted as a very 
liberal and patriotic showing for a population of about 1,400. 
Nor is this all; for the town paid out for State aid the sum of 
$4,870.16 during the years from 1862 to 1868. 

In October, 1864, a petition was addressed to Edwin Hobbs, 
Esq., justice of the peace for Middlesex County, as follows: — 

Whereas the Methodist Episcopal Churcli Society in Weston, having 
for several years neglected to choose Trustees of the Society, and there 
being no clerk legally qualified to call a meeting, we, the undersigned 
members thereof, respectfully request you to issue a warrant, calling a 
meeting of the qualified voters of the Society agreeable to the provisions 
of the Revised Statutes. 

The petition was signed by Franklin Childs, Amos Carter, Jr., 
Daniel Stearns, Abijah Gregory, and Abijah G. Jones. A 
warrant was issued accordingly, returnable November 7, 1864, 
and E. F. Childs was made clerk, and seven trustees were chosen. 

In March, 1865, Mr. Charles Merriam, of Boston, addressed 
a letter to the Selectmen of Weston, enclosing bonds to the amount 
of one thousand dollars for the purpose of establishing a fund for 
the "silent poor of W^eston," the interest of which sum shall 
be paid over to the "honest, temperate men and women who 
work hard and are prudent and economical and yet find it difficult 
to make both ends meet." Upon the reading of ]Mr. Merriam's 
letter, Mr. A. S. Fiske presented the following resolution: — 

Resolved, That we tender to Mr. Charles Merriam, Esq., our sincere 
thanks for his munificent donation, presented to the inhabitants of the 
town. 

Resolved, That we gratefully accept the trust, and that the fund shall 
be called the "Merriam Fund for the Benefit of the Silent Poor of 
Weston." 



144 HISTORY OF WESTON 

The trustees of this fund were chosen by ballot; namely, Edwin 
Hobbs, George W. Dunn, C. H. Topliff, Benjamin F. Cutter, 
Increase Leadbetter, and Alonzo S. Fiske. 

Samuel Patch, Jr., of Weston, a soldier of Company I, 35th 
Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry, having been promoted to 
the rank of lieutenant of that company, the citizens of Weston 
presented him with a sword and sash. His letter of acknowl- 
edgment for the gift, dated in camp before Petersburg, Va., 
December 29, 1864, w^as read and recorded. 

At a town meeting November 7, 1865, the following resolutions 
were presented by Rev. C. H. Topliff: — 

Resolved, That we have heard with sincere regret and sorrow of the 
accident by which the valuable life of Charles Merriam, Esq., formerly 
a citizen of this town, and a noble-hearted and liberal benefactor to it, 
was terminated. By his generous gift for the foundation of a public 
library, and also by a similar generous gift for the relief of the "silent 
poor" of Weston, he had enshrined himself in the hearts of the people, 
and secured grateful remembrance for his name in all future years. 

Resolved, That the above be entered in the records of the town and a 
copy transmitted to the family. 

It was voted as the sense of the town that a monument should 
be erected in commemoration of our fallen soldiers, and that 
a committee of five be appointed to inquire the probable cost of 
a suitable monument and report at the March meeting. At the 
April meeting the above committee's report was, in substance, 
as follows: — 

The object of a monument is not that it may serve as a tombstone on 
which to record the names and deaths of our valiant soldiers who offered 
their lives upon the altar of their country. Its design is to honor the fallen 
by inspiring the souls of the living with their noble deeds and their un- 
selfish love of country. The necessity which at present exists, and in any 
event cannot long be delayed, of making some provision for the town 
library and the expediency of enlarging the town hall, our inability on 
account of our obligations incurred by the war to meet these outlays and 
build a monument also, have led us to the conclusion that a Memorial 
Hall will secure to us the additional room and conveniences needed, and 
will be the wisest plan for the town to adopt. These objects will be 
obtained by the addition of 20 or 25 feet to the westerly end of the town 
house. We find that the cost of the addition, which is put at $2,500, 
may be wholly provided for in the taxes of this year. 



WAR VETERANS. ItAILROADS, ETC. 1*3 

The report was accepted, and a committee of three ch«.,en 
bv hallot to carry out the recommendation of the above. Edwn> 
Hobbs. Isaac Cohurn, and Alonzo S. Fiske were duly elected 

The Library Committee reported that the number of booU 
taken out from the library during the year was 5,207. and the 
number purchased and given was 93. The vote tor governor m 
1866 was 106 tor Alexander H. Bullock, 15 tor Sweetzer. 

\t a town meeting on March 4, 1867, the foUowmg resolution 
was voted- "Resolved. That the thanks of the town be presented 
to the Rev C H. Topliff for his long and faithful services m the 
various offices which he has held in town affairs, and that a copy 
of this vote be communicated to him." . „ „ ,. „t 

The vote tor governor in 1867 .stood: Alexander H. Bullock, 
149 votes; John Quincy Adams, 6.* 

In 1868 an enlargement of the cemetery of the town was 
deemed necessary, and the committee chosen by the town, which 
consisted of Edwin Hobbs and Isaac Cobum, reported m favor 
of purchasing, tor the sum of $900, the land west of the present 
cemetery, being about one and one-third acres, belonging to Mr. 
Charles Jones. Objections were made by the owners ot propertj 
on the street to this selection, and a minority report was presented 
to the town by Mr. Horace Hews, in which these objections were 
fullv set forth by him, and the recommendation was made for the 
pur'ehase ot twenty-three acres of land south of the present ceme- 
tery which could be obtained tor $4,800. The town voted to 
accept the minority report, and that measures be t-^en to -cure 
the lot and take a deed. The vote for governor in 1868 stood 
149 votes for William Claflin, ot Newton, and 31 tor John Quiney 

Adams. . ^ , , ^^„ 

At a town meeting held January 30, 1869, it was voted to recon- 
sider the vote whereby the town voted to purchase the land of 
Marshall Hews for a burial-lot. The matter seems to have re- 
mained in abeyance until the May meeting in 1873, when the com- 
mittee again reported in favor of the land on the westerly side o 
the present cemetery, "and, if it cannot be obtained by agreement 
with the owner, to petition the County Commissioners to adjust 

* In 1867 Mr. Charles H. Fiske was elected in this district as representative to the Gen- 
eral Court. He received 93 votes in Weston and 259 votes in Concord. 



146 HISTORY OF WESTON 

the damages." At a later meeting, held in June, better counsel 
seems to have prevailed, and the committee state that 

We have now three burial-grounds in town, and the creation of a fourth 
one widely separated from the others is quite objectionable. From 
many lips we have heard the expression, "Let us all lie near together 
when life's work is done and we are called to take our places with the 
slumbering dead." This feeling was beautifully expressed by the 
patriarch Jacob more than three thousand years ago, when he charged 
his sons, saying, "Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field 
of Ephron the Hittite. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; 
there they buried Isaac and Rebecca his wife; and there I buried 
Leah." Influenced by these considerations, we have sought a place as 
nearly connected with the present cemetery as to make it one and the 
same, this lot embracing seven to ten acres. It can be had for $250 
an acre. 

It was voted to accept this report. In 1874 $1,000 was voted to 
be expended on the new cemetery. 

In 1869 it was resolved "that the citizens of this town do 
most earnestly remonstrate against the annexation of the city of 
Charlestown to the city of Boston." 

The vote for governor in 1869 stood 82 votes for William Claflin 
and 19 votes for John Quincy Adams. 

In town meetings of January 3 and February 14, 1870, it was 

Resolved, To authorize the town treasurer to subscribe to 500 shares 
of the Massachusetts Central Railroad upon certain specified conditions 
regarding depot accommodations for the town; and also that the road 
shall be an independent through line to the city of Boston. 

A vote was taken by ayes and nays upon this resolution, and it 
was defeated by a vote of 72 ayes and 85 nays. 

The vote for governor in 1870 stood: William Claflin, 80 votes; 
Wendell Phillips, 12; John Q. Adams, 19. 

The Massachusetts Central Railroad, in its inception purely a 
speculative enterprise, has now come to maturity on a solid basis, 
after twenty years of incubation. Not one of the original officers 
had ]3ersonally any practical experience either in building or oper- 
ating railroads. They went to work blindly, and began their road 
"nowhere," and ended it in about the same place, as regards 



WAR VETERANS, RAILROADS. ETC. 147 

being within the reach of busine.s.s. In 18()8 an act pa.s.sed the 
legishiture incorporating the Wayhind & Sudbury Railroad, which 
was to run from Mill Village in Sudbury to Stony Brook on the 
Fitchburg Railroad. This was the t)rigin of the Massachusetts 
Central. In 1869 the bill incorporating the Central passed the 
legislature, superseding the act of the year before. The capital 
stock was fixed at $6,000,000, but the com])any voted to issue only 
$3,000,000. As the two years in which to file a location was about 
to expire, a special act was passed, extending the time to 1874. 
N. C. Munson, the contractor for building the road, failed, and all 
the sub-contractors failed with him. For several years the road 
was in a comatose condition. The cost of construction in the fall 
of 1878 amounted to $2,782,932.78, there was a funded debt of 
$995,000, and an unfunded debt of $37,428.76. Work was resumed 
on the eastern end of the road, and in October, 1881, the road was 
opened from Boston to Hudson, 28 miles; in June, 1882, to Oak- 
dale, 41 miles, and to Jefferson, 48 miles. Governor Boutwell 
became president in 1880, remaining such until 1882, when he was 
succeeded by Hon. S. N. Aldrich, of Marlboro. Upon the failure 
of Charles A. Sweet & Co. work on the road was again suspended. 
In 1883 the road was sold under foreclosure to a committee of the 
bondholders, — S. N. Aldrich, Thomas H. Perkins, and Henry 
Woods. In 1885 they made a contract with the Boston & Lowell 
Railroad to operate the Central. It was in operation under this 
contract for one year. In 1886 the Lowell road leased the property 
to the Boston & Maine for ninety -nine years, the company issu- 
ing bonds to the amount of $2,000,000. The road has to earn 
$500,000 to meet the interest on the bonded indebtedness, and 
there is ])rospect of its doing better than that. The credit for res- 
cuing the Central road from total wreck is due to the president, 
Hon. S. N. Aldrich, Assistant Treasurer of the United States. The 
road, running, as it does, through Middlesex County and central 
Massachusetts, has a great and pros])erous future before it. If 
the directors follow in the footsteps of the Boston & Albany, they 
can in a few years create a suburban population along the route 
ecjual to that wliich now secures the yearly dividend of the Boston 
& Springfield l)ranch of the Albany road. Weston, through which 
the Central runs, can by generous accommodation be made the 



148 HISTORY OF WESTON 

centre of a large population. The present size of Weston is 10,967 
acres by actual survey, and it has 155 acres in ponds. It is in gen- 
eral an uneven and, in some places, a broken tract of land. High 
cliffs, or ledges, of rock are found within its limits. The town is 
elevated above the common level of the surrounding country, and 
affords an extensive view of other parts. The soil is of a deep, 
strong loam, favorable to the growth of trees, for the beauty of 
which this section is noted. The hills are springy, and sufifer but 
little from frost or drought. Brooks and rivulets abound on every 
side, and for the greater part rise within the limits of the town. 
The character of its inhabitants would not suffer by a comparison 
with those of any other town in the Commonwealth. Few towns 
within a radius of twenty miles of Boston have preserved the old- 
time characteristics, both as regards population and customs, as has 
Weston. The names of the descendants of the men of Concord 
and Lexington are to-day on the voting list of the town. Property 
and estates have changed owners but little within the past century. 
The finances of the town are managed with great care, while its 
roads and public buildings and general improvements are liberally 
provided for in the yearly grants. 

In 1871 it was again proposed to sell the poorhouse farm and 
to purchase a smaller place, more centrally located. It was 
thought at the time that the people of the north side wanted 
to get rid of it in their neighborhood, and an effort was made to 
have the house located in the centre of the town. For this purpose 
the property now owned by Miss Marshall was proposed. No 
definite action seems to have been taken on this proposition until 
the May meeting in 1873, when the committee who had the matter 
in charge reported that they had examined several places, among 
them the farm of John A. Lamson, of 71 acres, valued at $8,000, 
that of Henry J. White, of 25 acres, valued at $8,500, and that of 
Nathan Barker, of 40 acres, with buildings valued at $8,000. 
None of these places being consideretl suital)le for the purpose,, 
the report was tabled. The vote for governor stood: William 
P. Washburn, 96 votes; John Q. Adams, 25; Robert C. Pitman, 7. 
Mr. C. H. Fiske was elected representative to the General Court. 

The vote for governor in 1872 stood: William P. Washburn,. 
159 votes; Francis W. Bird, 12. 



WAR VETERANS, RAILROADS, ETC. 149 

The vote in 1873 stood: William 13. Washburn, 53 votes; 
W'illiam Gaston, 9. 

In town meeting, March 1, 1875, it was voted that a committee 
of three be appointed to ])urchase a lot of land of Henry J. Wliite, 
fronting the house of Oliver N. Kenny, for a site for a high-school 
building. This lot was duly purchased, and $500 paid to INIr. 
WTiite. The connnittee consisted of George W. Dunn, Nathan 
Barker, and George B. INIilton. The sum of $3,300 was ap- 
propriated for schools, and $600 for school incidentals. At the 
April meeting the town directed the Selectmen to establish a town 
pump near the town house, and they were directed not to dig the 
well when the springs were full, but at the proper time. 

Voted to accept the invitation of the towns of Concord and 
Lexington to be present at the celebration of the centennial 
anniversary of the opening of the Revolutionary War. 

A letter was received from General Charles J. Paine, donating 
a town clock, if the town would provide a site for the same. 
Voted that the clock be placed on the Unitarian church, if agree- 
able to the society; and a committee, consisting of Edwin Hobbs, 
Alonzo S. Fiske, and George B. INIilton, was chosen to confer 
with the trustees of the church and also with General Paine 
regarding the matter. Voted a sum not to exceed $500 for plac- 
ing the clock. 

The vote for governor stood: Alexander H. Rice, 69 votes; 
John J. Baker, 10; and William Gaston, 13. 

Edward Coburn was elected to the General Court. Weston 
gave him 83 votes; Concord, 178; and Lincoln, 66. 

In town meeting, March 6, 1876, the matter of the high school 
came up, and a committee, consisting of James B. Case, George 
W. Dunn, and George W. Cutting, Jr., was appointed to con- 
struct the building. They were instructed not to expend above 
$9,000. On March '20, same year, the above was voted to be re- 
considered and to be declared null and void. At a meeting held 
in April it was voted that a committee of three be appointed to 
procure plans for a high-school house and estimates of cost, and 
report at the March meeting. At this March meeting, held in 
1877, it was again voted to build a high-school building, the 
expense of which should not exceed $8,500. The Committee on 



150 HISTORY OF WESTON 

Plans, Site, and Estimates were George B. Milton, Isaac Coburn, 
and Eli E. Fox. In April the committee reported that the lot at 
the corner of the Willow Lane and the main road presented more 
advantages on account of being near the post-ofEce, library, and 
store, while the other was a commanding and cheaper site. The 
price asked for the corner lot was $1,500 for an acre or $1,000 
for half an acre. The choice of sites was voted by ballot, but, 
before this vote was taken, a motion was made to reconsider the 
whole matter. This motion was lost, however, by a vote of 84 to 
69. The vote on the site for the school-house being then taken, 
66 voted for the corner lot on the main road, and 77 voted for the 
lot already purchased of Mr. White. The Building Committee 
chosen were George B. Milton, Edward Coburn, George W. Dunn, 
Henry J. White, and William N. Gowell. 

The vote for governor stood: Alexander H. Rice, 121 votes; 
William Gaston, 33. In November, 1877, the town voted on a 
State Constitutional Amendment making it eligible for the presi- 
dent, professors, and instructors of Harvard College to hold seats 
in the Senate and House of Representatives of Massachusetts. 
This vote stood: yeas, 30; and no nays. 

The vote for governor in 1878 stood: Thomas Talbot, 202; 
Benjamin F. Butler, 26. In 1879, John D. Long, 164, and Ben- 
jamin F. Butler, 21. 

In 1878 Alonzo S. Fiske was elected representative to the Gen- 
eral Court. The vote stood: Weston, 200; Sudbury, 124; 
Maynard, 129; Wayland, 149. 

In May, 1884, the charter of the Henry A. Upham Lodge, 
No. 52, of Weston was granted by the Ancient Order of United 
Workmen, Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, to Luther F. Upham, 
Nathan Barker, Jr., Edwin A. Newbury, Oliver L. Sherburne, 
Merrill French, William N. Gowell, E. O. Clark, Elias King, 
Charles Wark, and Charles A. Moody, and to their successors. 
This society of workmen has for its purjjose the encouragement 
and support of the brothers of the order when in sickness and 
distress, and has the further pur])ose of securing to the family 
or heirs of the brother, in case of death, two thousand dollars. 
Other objects are " the practice of charity, the inspiration of hope, 
and the protection of all good and true brothers." In 1887 there 
were fifty-three members of this lodge in Weston. 



WAR VETERANS, RAILROADS, ETC. 



151 



There is nothing of especial interest connected with the town 
and its affairs from 1880 to 1890 worthy of being noted here. 
The town has gone on during these last ten years in the even 
tenor of its way towards development and liberal management. 

It may prove interesting to my readers to know the increase 
of voters and of personal and real property during the past 
century : — 





1773. 


1876. 


1888. 


1911. 


Number of polls . . 


218 


379 


468 


602 


" " horses . . 


142 


372 


415 


453 


" '* cows . . . 


535 


742 


946 


846 


" " oxen . . . 


167 


12 






" " sheep . . 


279 


— 


19 




" " swine . . 


225 


297 


137 




" " dwellings 


— 


— 


286 


472 


" " slaves . . . 


16 


— 


— 




Value of personal estate 


£2,128 7s. 


$753,683 




$4,388,934 


Value real estate . . . 


5,241 


875,400 
$1,629,083 




3,393,298 


Total 


£7,369 7s. 


$2,076,600 


$7,782,232 



Debt of the town (1889), $5,695.93. Rate of taxation, $6. 
Number of deaths, 14, including six persons of seventy years and 
upwards, viz.: Mary Warren Hastings, seventy -seven years; 
Amanda Cheney, eighty years; Louisa K. Gregory, seventy-one; 
Martha Derby, eighty -three; Isaac H. Jones, seventy-nine; 
Beulah R. Livingston, eighty-four. 

In 1911 there was no town debt. The rate of taxation was 
$11.30. 



XI. 

Business Interests of the Towt^. 

The early industries, commerce, and trade of Weston, from 
the date of its settlement, were quite extensive for so limited a 
population. Almost every trade was to be found within its limits. 
To enumerate some of them will give the reader an idea of the 
extent of the business interests of the town before the intro- 
duction of railroads. Among these was a brewery, or malt-house, 
numerous groceries, dry -goods stores, clock-makers, hatters, 
straw-braiders, grist-mills and saw-mills, machine-shop, pottery, 
cabinet-making, wheelwrights, shoemaking, tannery, and apothe- 
cary shop. All this activity seems strange to us to-day, when, 
until a few years ago, we were reduced to a blacksmith-shop, 
one grocery, and a grist-mill. We have seen how prosperous and 
numerous were our taverns, and how speedily they succumbed, 
one after another, upon the introduction of railroads. All the 
above enumerated industries followed the example of the taverns, 
and after a few years of fitful existence disappeared. Many 
Westonians who were storekeepers here in the early years of 
this century became prosperous merchants in Boston. 

The oldest store of which we have any record is that of Elisha 
Jones, who was followed by his son Isaac. The original resi- 
dence of Lieutenant Jones was opposite the Baptist parsonage. 
It is probable that the store, which was east of the present house, 
was built at a very early period. This building was moved some 
years ago to the rear of the house, and fell into decay. The date 
of the ledger of this store is 1745. Here was carried on one 
of the most extensive businesses outside of Boston. It included 
many lines of goods, — groceries, liquors, dry goods, etc. Judging 
from the books, Mr. Jones provided all the taverns far and near 
with their rum, brandy, and molasses. He was the banker of the 
town also, and his credit in Boston was perhaps better than that 
of his obscurer neighbors. He carried the notes of the town 



BUSINESS INTERESTS OF THE TOWN 153 

clerg>niian and farmers, all of whom borrowed money of him and 
gave their notes for loans and goods. We have seen that Colonel 
Ephraim Williams })in-chased his military outfit for the campaign 
of 1753-54 of Mr. Jones, and during the latter part of the War 
of the Revolution he had extensive dealings with the army on 
the Hudson, shipping large quantities of clothing. We have the 
receipts for nine hogsheads of blankets carried by ox-team 
215 miles, and Ezekiel Moore receipts for another lot teamed 
to Fishkill (£27 VZs.). The old account books are extremely 
interesting and of historic value. James Otis, the patriot, was 
attorney for Mr. Jones, and his bold, handsome signature a])pears 
as such attorney, followed by that of Harrison Gray Otis. It 
seems to have been the custom in early days for both the debtor 
and creditor to receipt for settlement of accounts in the ledger 
in sign of satisfaction. Consequently, we have an uninterru])ted 
series of autographs of the early settlers and inhabitants of Weston, 
and also of those living in adjoining tow'ns and counties. Many 
of these autographs are valuable to-day. The present house, or 
what is known as the Golden Ball Tavern, was built in 1753-54, as 
is shown in the ledger. At this time Mr. Jones vacated his 
old house; and Colonel William Williams, who had married Mr. 
Jones's daughter, moved from Newton into the old house. Colonel 
Ephraim Williams, his son, came with his father, and remained 
until they both took up their residence at Stockbridge. The 
landed possessions of Lieutenant Jones and of his son Isaac 
were very extensive, both in Weston and in towns adjoining, and 
particularly in Berkshire County. The Berkshire property was a 
grant from the crown, as was also true in the case of William and 
Ephraim Williams. Mr. Jones's book shows purchases of farms 
and lands in Barre, Templeton, Framingham, and other places. 
It looks very much as if some of these properties were taken 
in settlement of outstanding accounts. Elisha and Isaac do not 
seem to have been disagreeable creditors, judging from the fact 
that several years' accounts were allowed to run without a settle- 
ment, although interest was charged in some cases. 

In the accounts of the different stores in Weston it is im])ossible 
to make any distinction between groceries and dry goods. There 
was nothing properly called "dry" in former days, and the people 



154 HISTORY OF WESTON 

never went dry long or when they could help it. All dealers were 
licensed as retailers. 

It has also become difficult to classify the different stores in 
the date of their establishment. Peter Jennison seems to have 
been a tailor here in 1750, but there is no mention of any other 
until 1800, when Hugh McPherson takes that position. All 
women were more or less tailors everywhere in country^ towns, 
and so continued down to about fifty years ago. 

In 1782 Isaac Lamson, son of Colonel Samuel Lamson, kept 
a grocery on the site of the present Cutting store. He died in 
1806. His books are in excellent condition to-day. 

Ralph Abrahams, of the Isaac Jones family, kept a store on 
what is now the Minor property. The store stood east of the 
present house. In 1820 Abrahams sold the property to Alpheus 
Bigelow, and Bigelow sold to Oliver Shed, who remained until 
1830, when the store was destroyed by fire. 

In 1804 George W. Smith opened a grocery store where now 
stands the Cutting house, then the property of Joel Smith, his 
father. Upon the marriage of George Smith with Clarissa Lam- 
son (sister of John and Daniel S. Lamson), Joel Smith gave his 
son George the estate now of Mrs. Robbins, and the store was 
moved to a position about where the driveway of that estate 
now is. It remained in this position until the death of Mrs. 
Smith in 1852, when it was bought by Mr. Cutting, and again 
moved to its original place. Mr. Cutting kept the store at this 
place for a short period, and then it was altered into the present 
dwelling-house in 1867. Previous to the last removal Captain 
Smith leased the store to William S. Barker, of Medford. He 
remained until 1828, when Mr. Smith again took the store. He 
died in 1829, and was succeeded by Jonathan P. Stearns, the 
business being conducted by Mr. George W. Cutting, who came 
to town from Way land in 1822. In 1830 Mr. Cutting bought out 
Mr. Stearns, and remained the leading and deservedly popular 
storekeeper of Weston until his death in 1885. In 1852 the 
old Lamson stand, with the house and barn adjoining, which had 
been occupied as a store for a century, came into the possession 
of Mr. John Lamson, who took down the old buildings and erected 
the present store. It was leased to Charles Johnson, who with 



Bl SIXESS INTERESTS OF THE TOWN 155 

his son, Byron B. Johnson, later the first mayor of Walthani, 
kept both a grocery and dry-goods store until 1856, when Mr. 
Cutting took the lease, and in 1875 purchased the store of ]\Irs. 
E. T. Lamson. Mr. Cutting was succeeded by his son, G. W. 
Cutting. The old store above mentioned, and the one occupied 
by Isaac Lamson in 178^ (died in 1806), were taken about 1810 
by Daniel S. Lamson as a dry-goods store. Under his manage- 
ment this store became one of the most important in jNliddlesex 
County. The business was very extensive, taking in all the 
towns west of us to the Vermont and New Hampshire line. It 
was the custom in old times for women to make their purchases 
in the spring or fall for the whole year. They would drive down 
from long distances in their "one-horse shay," put u]) over night 
at the tavern, returning home the next day. No one ever thought 
of going to Boston to buy goods. Waltham ladies came to Weston 
to buy. Cloths of all sorts were to be had. But, complaint 
being made that there was no one to make up the cloths, Mr. 
Lamson built the little shop about 1817, and installed a tailor. 
Mr. Lamson died in 1824, leaving what was considered a hand- 
some fortune in those days, all of which he had made in Weston. 
Mr. Charles Merriam, who had served his time with Mr. Lamson, 
coming to Weston in 1821, was very popular. He succeeded Mr. 
Lamson in the business, and maintained the reputation of the 
store to the last. In 1836 Mr. Merriam, with Mr. Henry Sales, 
established the large business house of Sales & Merriam. INIr. 
Merriam died in 1865, leaving a large fortune. He w^as succeeded 
in Weston in 1836 by Henry W. Wellington, who remained until 
1838. He is now of H. W. Wellington & Co., Chauncy Street, 
Boston. 

With the de])arture of Mr. Wellington the prestige and glory 
of this store and business began to decline. The days of rail- 
roads had begun. George W. Smith kept the store for a while, 
but the profits of the business had g(me to Boston. George W. 
Bigelow opened a store in the west end of Mrs. John Jones's 
house, but he was not one to recall the halcyon days of those 
who had gone before him. Both Bigelow and Smith went down 
at the whistle of the steam-engine. Mr. Merriam, when here, 
built the house now belonging to E. O. Clark; and here Charles 



156 HISTORY OF WESTON 

Merriam, the present wealthy Boston merchant, was born in 
1832. 

In 1791, 1792, and 1793 Wareham Woodward, son of Rev. 
Mr. Woodward, kept a store in the west end of what was later 
the paint-shop of M. & J. Jones. Mr. Frank Kendal, son of 
Rev. Dr. Kendal, appears to have been associated with him for a 
while. There was a small store next the west wall of the bake- 
house property, at one time used as a school and also as a shop. 
This building was moved to property now owned by George W. 
Dunn. The farm-house on the Lamson estate was at one time a 
hat store. Hats were manufactured here by Royal Mcintosh, 
He sold this bake-house property to Benjamin Peirce in 1816, 
and in 1859 Mr. Peirce conveyed it to Mrs. E. T. Lamson. In 
1823 and 1824 Sarah Woodward kept a store in the building 
formerly occupied as a store by Woodward and the Kendals. 
Abraham Hews built the Marshall Jones house somewhere about 
1765. 

At one time, with Ralph Plympton, Mr. Hews carried on the 
manufacture of chairs and other cabinet-work. Many of the 
chairs are still in use in the town, and were so faithfully and sub- 
stantially put together as to promise a lasting existence. Mr. 
Hews sold this property to Plympton when he removed to his 
new house and pottery works, now belonging to Marshall Lam- 
son Hews. Plympton sold to Marshall Jones in 1824. 

In 1765 Abraham Hews established the pottery business, said 
to have been the first industry of its kind in New England. This 
business was transmitted from father to son in Weston from 
1765 to 1871, a period of one hundred and six years. In 1871 
it was found necessary, owing to the rapid increase in the business, 
to remove the works nearer the central market, and a large factory 
was erected at North Cambridge, at which time the name of the 
firm was changed to that of A. H. Hews & Co. The pay-roll 
of 1871 contained fifteen names; that of 1889, from eighty-five 
to one hundred. In 1871 800,000 pieces of pottery were required 
by the trade; in 1889, 7,000,000 are needed. The account books 
of the concern from 1769 are still preserved. The quaint charges 
and small beginnings of those early days make interesting reading 
to-day. It seems to have been the custom to mix up family 



BUSINESS INTERESTS OF THE TOWN 157 

affairs and general running expenses with the work of the business; 
for instance: "Samuel Brocett to my horse to Framingham, 
12 miles, three shillings"; "Samuel Lamson, to my horse to Con- 
cord, two shillings"; "Isaac Lamson, to my horse and cart to 
Boston to bring Samuel's wife and children up to Weston, twelve 
shillings"; and so on. Dr. Gowen, at one time in the last 
century, had his office and apothecary shop in a building in front 
of the present school-house on Highland Street. This building 
belonged to the Isaac Jones estate, and was removed to their 
house. A grocery and dry-goods store was located in the William 
Hastings house. D. G. Ingraham kept it for some years, followed 
by Enoch Greenleaf in partnership with Caleb Hayward. Ad- 
joining the Hastings place on the west was that of Ralph 
Abrahams, who was one of the Jones family. He kept a store 
in a building east of the present Minor house from 1802 to 1821, 
when he sold the property to Alpheus Bigelow; and he in turn, 
in 1824, sold it to Oliver Shed, who kept a grocery and retail 
liquor store until 1830, at which time the store was destroyed by 
fire. 

The next place was that of the Livermores, who owned and 
operated the malt-house. It has been found impossible to discover 
the actual date when it was so operated and how long. The 
Livermores sold to iVlpheus Bigelow, and he sold later to Mr. 
Cutting. Bigelow again purchased it some years later, and 
sold it to Jane Caswell, and Mr. Caswell still owns it. One 
of the first school-houses of the town stood about where the 
Caswell barn now stands. The Simeon Brown farm was owned 
by Marshall and Josiah Livermore, who sold it to Mr. Brown in 
1836. 

Henry Flagg kept a dry-goods store on the east corner of the 
estate now of Mr. Bennett. The building was moved, and is 
now the Bigelow farm-house. In the early part of this century 
there was a clock-maker in town named Cutter. Mr. Cutting 
has a handsome parlor clock made by Cutter. His shop was 
afterwards owned by Mr. Bingham, who invented the butter and 
cheese drill, since so generally in use. Orders came to him for 
these implements from all over the country, and they were in 
such demand that he had difficulty in filling his orders. Mr. 



158 HISTORY OF WESTON 

Bowen succeeded Mr. Bingham in this business, and continued 
in it to the time of his death in I860.* 

It was a custom throughout the State, in early days, to locate 
houses and people in Weston by the distance from the tannery. 
Bark was brought to the tannery from Vermont and New Hamp- 
shire, and as late as 1795 vessels loaded with bark from Maine 
came to Watertown. Thence the material was teamed to the 
tannery. Old bills for all this kind of work abound. 

It has been difficult to fix the exact date when the Weston tan- 
nery was established by the Hobbs family. It has only been by 
overhauling the family papers that anything like a clear statement 
has been possible concerning this ancient industry. Perhaps a 
sketch of the Hobbs family in this connection will not be out of 
place, the better to understand the business, probably one of the 
first established in this country. 

Josiah Hobbs came to Weston from Boston in 1730, and the 
same year purchased large tracts of land, a part of which is now 
owned by Mr. Edward Brown and Mr. Gowing. The deed of this 
property, bought of Cheeney, is dated October 4, 1729. Josiah 
Hobbs died in 1779, aged ninety-four. He had eight children, 
all born in Boston, excepting Nathan, who first saw the light 
in Weston in 1731. Ebenezer Hobbs, the eldest son of Josiah, 
born in Boston in 1709, is the ancestor of all the Hobbs family 
in Weston. He had nine children. He is mentioned as a shoe- 
maker in old records as early as 1750. Isaac Hobbs, the eldest 
son of Ebenezer, was born in 1735. He married Mary Sanderson, 
of Waltham, in 1757. Isaac built the double house, one-half of 
which was occupied by his grandson. Captain Samuel Hobbs, 
and the west end by Captain Henry Hobbs. Isaac Hobbs was 
a deacon in the Weston church, and filled the office of town clerk 

* The following note about Messrs. Cutter and Bingham appears in the papers of Colonel 
Lam son: — 

Ezekiel Cutter bought the place known as the Bingham place of Abel Rice, of Sudbury, 
who was a school-teacher at East Cambridge in 1827. There was previous to this purchase 
a grist-mill on the premises, run by one Sanderson. Cutter was a clock-maker, and George 
W. Cutting bought his parlor clock of him when he married in or about 1830. The clock is 
to-day in good condition. Bingham succeeded Cutter, and made machinery for the manu- 
facture of coarse woollen goods, purchasing the property about 1830.' 

Between 1835 and 1840 the United States government contracted with JohnJCutting, 
of Weston, to manufacture the plumbago for the government crucibles, to melt the gold and 
silver of the mints. While the material was baking, the mill took fire and was destroyed and 
not rebuilt. The work was being done by Mr. Hews, of Weston. — 'Ed. 




THE DEACON URIAH GREGORY HOUSE. MERRIA]\I S'lKKiri'. 

Said to have been one of the oldest houses in Weston. Tlie property was in the Gregory 
family for over two hundred years. It was torn down in 18S5. 




THE ABRAM BIGELOW HOl'SK, CONCORD 8TUi;i:i'. 

Mr. Bigelow was one of the .seleetinon of Weston, and a prominent man in the liistory of 
the town from 17.")7 to 1771. He was the orisinal of "Deacon Badjjer " of Mrs. Stowc's 
"Oldtown Folks." In recent years it was bought by John I'outas, whose descendants still' 
own and occupy it. 



BUSINESS INTERESTS OF THE •TOWN 159 

for forty years. He died in 1813, at the age of seventy-eight. 
Matthew Hobbs, the sixth son of Ebenezer Hobbs, was an active 
promoter of the Revolution. In 1780 he was captain of tlie 
Weston Company, the men enlisting under him for three years, 
or the war. Isaac Hobbs, the third son of Isaac, was born in 
1765, and married Mary Baldwin in 1790. He died in 1834, 
aged sixty-nine. The Hager house was built by Isaac Hobbs, 
in 1786, for his sons Isaac and Ebenezer. Ebenezer, by his 
will dated October 13, 1762, bequeathed to his son Isaac all 
his stock in leather and hides, and also his tan-houses and 
bark for tanning. So far as can be gathered by records, the tan- 
nery was started between 1750 and 1760. Captain Henry Hobbs, 
son of Captain Matthew Hobbs, was born in 1784. He died in 
1854, aged eighty. Henry was a harness-maker, and occupied 
the building which stood on the south-east corner of the double 
house, later the shoe factory of Hobbs & Hager. Henry was 
also a carriage-maker, and occupied for this business the sheds 
which formerly stood on the south-west end of the Hager barn. 
The first chaise ever seen in Weston was owned by him, and 
was probably of his make. In 1795 he took out a license for this 
chaise, for which he paid three dollars. The license mentions "a 
two-wheel carriage, called by him a chaise, to be drawn by one 
horse and to carry two people." Henry owned the land now of 
Curtis Robinson, and the little building formerly Dr. Kendal's 
study was moved to this property and is now the Robinson shoe- 
shop. 

Nathan Hager owned and lived on the present Eldridge farm. 
His son Nathan married in 1832 Mary Ann Hobbs, daughter 
of Isaac Hobbs. Nathan Hager, Jr., owned and lived on the 
farm now of Mr. Frank Hastings, where he lived after his mar- 
riage. On the death of Isaac Hobbs in 1834 Nathan Hager 
moved over to the present Hager house, and formed the ])artner- 
ship of Hobbs & Hager. Mr. Hager sold his farm to Captain 
Dickinson, whose daughter married Mr. Hastings. The shoe 
factory was given up about 1850, and a short time before Mr. 
Hager's death, in 1860, the tannery also ceased to exist. Mr. 
Hager served as town clerk for twenty years. David Jacobs 
worked in the tannery for over forty years. Thus we see the 



160 • HISTORY OF WESTON 

tannery was in operation for a century, and the shoe factory 
about fifty years. 

The business of cutting and selling barrel hoops would seem 
to have been quite extensive, if we may judge from the partial 
returns on record from 1764 to 1770, a period of five years only. 
The figures represent the returns of the several farmers employed 
in this industrvs and are only partial. For instance, in 1763 
there were made and sold 18,9-tO; in 1764 the figures are 9,300; 
and in 1766 they are 11,080, etc. 

One of the most important industries of Weston is that of the 
Stony Brook mills. This water power was rendered effective 
by one Richard Child, who in 1679 erected a corn-mill and later 
a saw-mill.* The grist-mill remained standing until about the 
year 1840. It was at the saw-mill that a great part of the 
timber was sawed for the early houses of the town. This prop- 
erty was sold in 1802 by Isaac Lamson, executor of Amos Bigelow, 
and was bought in by the heirs. At the time of the sale the 
property consisted of the mills, a dwelling-house, and two acres 
of land. Washington Peirce leased the mills, but, upon his mar- 
riage with the daughter of Joel Smith, removed, and kept the 
tavern. Coolidge, Sibley & Treat bought the property of Abra- 
ham Bigelow in 1831. They erected a machine-shop, and operated 
for a number of years the grist-mill, and also a mill for the manu- 
facture of cotton yarns. In the machine-shop for many years 
the specialty was the manufacture of cotton machinery, looms, 
etc. They supplied the factories of Lowell, Lawrence, Lancaster, 
and Clinton, besides which they manufactured extensively for mills 
in New York. Here was also made the first machinery for cotton 
mills in Alabama and Tennessee. Here also later were made 
large quantities of door-locks, expanding bits, and other articles 
of steel and iron hardware. In 1859 was begun the manufacture 
of wood-planing machines, the Sibley dovetailer, and the Sibley 
pencil-sharpeners for schools, now in use from Maine to Alaska. 

* The third grist-mill, or corn-mill, erected in the Watertown district, was that at Stony 
Brook. At a town meeting held January 5, 1679, it was "granted that the new mill now 
set up and to be finished at Stony Brook be freed from rates for twenty years from date." 
In 1684 it was owned by John Bright and others. For many years it was known as Bigelow's 
Mill. Lieutenant John Brewer's Mill, established about the same time, was in the north- 
western part of Weston, now a part of Lincoln, and is at present operated by Mr. Harrington 
as a grist and saw mill. 



BUSINESS INTERESTS OF THE TOWN 161 

Sibley became the owner of this valuable property, having bought 
out both Coolidge and Treat. 

Near these machine-shops was the little canon, enclosing the 
pool out of which the cascade fell. From above, the waters of 
the brook came down the rapids white with foam, the banks 
covered with mosses and ferns, the oaks and hemlocks overarching 
the stream. Altogether it formed one of the most beautiful 
bits of natural scenery to be seen this side of the White Moun- 
tains, the delight of artists and the admiration of all beholders. 
All the available portions of this valuable plant have now been 
completely destroyed by the Cambridge water board, who have 
seized the mills and rendered its future usefidness as a factory 
impossible. This act of the Cambridge authorities wipes out all 
this important factory privilege and destroys the taxable value 
of this industry for the town. It is time our people should 
realize the immense injury to farms and manufactories which the 
free and easy grants of the legislature of late years to water com- 
panies are doing. They are giving away for the asking the control 
of springs and waterways, which bids fair to destroy the value of 
our farms and property. In 1833 a furniture factory was built 
over the dam on this estate belonging to Mr. Sibley, and was 
leased to Joseph H. Cummings. This building was destroyed by 
fire about 1850. George W. Cutting, Jr., worked for Mr. Cum- 
mings when a young man. 

In 1852 Dr. Otis E. Hunt and Nathan Barker together pur- 
chased the Harrington farm, and in the year 1854 sold a part of 
the property to Mr. Samuel Shattuck. This gentleman estab- 
lished a chair factory there, which eventually did a large business. 
In 1875 Oliver Kenney succeeded Mr. Shattuck. The firm is 
now engaged in the manufacture, on a large scale, of school furni- 
ture, and employs a number of hands. 

Marshall Jones, who was born in the Hannah Gowen house in 
1791, bought the old Abraham Hews property in 1824. It was 
then in rather a dilapidated condition, and had never been painted 
since its erection in 1765. Mr. Jones had served his apprentice- 
ship in the harness business with Mr. Hobbs at the north side of 
the town, and here established the j)aint and harness business. 
His brother, John Jones, worked with him as a journeyman 



162 HISTORY OF WESTON 

until taken into partnership, the firm then taking the name of 
M. & J. Jones. This business became very extensive, and the 
brothers became men of considerable wealth. Marshall Jones 
died in 1864, and Colonel John Jones in 1861, being killed while 
lifting a rock out of the ground on his estate. Colonel Jones was 
highly esteemed throughout the county, and was largely engaged 
in the settlement of estates in the town, so great confidence had 
our people in his ability and integrity. In 1825 he succeeded 
Colonel Daniel S. Lamson as lieutenant-colonel of the Third 
Middlesex Regiment. 

David Brackett, a blacksmith of the town, had his forge on 
the main street in 1788-89, on the site of the Upham shop. He 
was succeeded by his son David, Jr., followed by Isaac Bigelow, 
son of Deacon Thomas Bigelow, who at that time owned the 
property. He was followed by Whitten and John Parks, and 
in 1830 Joel Upham bought the house and shop. Mr. Upham 
retired from the business in 1887, at the ripe age of eighty-five. 
John Hobbs, sixth child of Nathan Hobbs, born in 1771, was a 
blacksmith on the north road in a shop west of Mr. Edward 
Brown's barn. In 1802 he was bitten by a mad dog, and died of 
hydro])hobia. Jonathan Warren was a shoemaker, and a maker 
of ploughs on property now of Mr. Hastings. Ebenezer Tucker 
was a blacksmith in the old shop still standing near the Garfield 
wheelwright-shop. Converse Bigelow, also a blacksmith, had 
a smithy on property now of Mr. Coburn. Park Boyce was a 
blacksmith near the Daggett tavern. George and Nathan Up- 
ham erected a blacksmith-shop on property of General Derby, 
facing the house and land they purchased in 1839 of the heirs of 
John Lamson. Luther and Quincy Harrington had a machine- 
shop where the shoddy mill stood, near Kendal Green station. 
Abijah Upham, son of Lieutenant Phineas, born in 1747, built the 
house now the property of Abijah Coburn. and had a blacksmith- 
shop at this place. He moved to the old place when his father 
died. 

Lieutenant John Brewer, who died in 1709, left a farm and 
216 acres of other land, together with a saw-mill and grist-mill. 
His widow, Mary Brewer, in 1715 entered into a copartnership 
or agreement with Richard Parks for the purpose of carrying 



lU SINESS INTEKESTS OF THE TOWN 163 

on the saw-mill, provision l)eing' made in the articles of agreement 
that this work slionld not interfere with the running of the grist- 
mill in possession of said ^Slary Brewer. These mills are still 
in operation, and are now owned by ]\Ir. Harrington. The store 
of Henry Fiske on the north road was built in 1815, and the 
business was conducted by Henry and Sewell Fiske, John Williams, 
and Alonzo S. Fiske until 1852. Abijah Stearns was a clerk to 
Henry Fiske. Thaddeus and Abijah Peirce were wheelwrights, 
and in early days all such mechanics were also housewrights, 
or carpenters. Benjamin Rand was a housewright previous to 
1800. He signs a "covenant, bargain or agreement made and 
concluded with Benoni Garfield, Benjamin Brown, James Jones, 
and Ebenezer Allen, of Weston [other names to contract lost], in 
behalf of the town of Weston for the building of the second church 
erected in Weston." The contract is signed by Randall Davis 
and Benjamin Rand, and is dated 1720. This interesting paper 
(the original) is badly torn, and only a part of it is decipherable. 
When Mr. Rand died, the town was in his debt over £300 for 
building this church. Daniel Rand, a wheelwright, began busi- 
ness in 1800 on the farm now owned by Mr. Caswell, and died 
in 1851. 

The organ factory in the north part of Weston, now called 
Kendal Green, on the line of the Fitchburg Railroad, was estab- 
lished here by Mr. Francis H. Hastings in 1888. He moved his 
factory from Roxbury on Tremont Road, or Street, to Weston. 
It had been in operation there for forty years. In the year 1827 
Mr. Elias Hook began the building of organs in Salem with his 
brother George Hook. They removed to Boston as E. & G. G. 
Hook. In 1855, when nineteen years old, Mr. Hastings entered 
their service, and in 1865 was admitted as a partner. Later the 
name of the firm was changed to "E. & G. G. Hook and Hast- 
ings," and in 1880, after the death of Mr, G. G. Hook, it was again 
changed to Hook & Hastings. In 1881 Mr. Elias Hook died, 
since which time the business has been conducted by Mr. Hastings. 
The business dates back over sixty years. Mr. Hastings has 
devoted himself to the building of church organs for thirty-five 
years. His relations with eminent European builders, the em- 
ployment of experts trained in their factories, the ingenuity and 



164 HISTORY OF WESTON 

skill of our American workmen, and his constant endeavor to 
advance the standard of his work have enabled him to obtain 
and to hold the highest place in his craft. The work of the house 
is found in every part of the country, and has a world-wide reputa- 
tion. The large new factory at Kendal Green is situated on 
the Fitchburg Railroad, twelve miles from Boston. Trains stop 
at the factory for the accommodation of workmen and visitors. 
Mr. Hastings built this factory on land which formed part of 
the old Hastings homestead, and which has been in the family 
for four generations. He has built cottages for his workmen, 
and a club-house and hall, with reading-rooms attached, for pub- 
lic use. At stated times, lectures are given in the hall, together 
with musical and other entertainments fully appreciated by the 
workmen as well as by the townspeople generally. 



XII. 

Schools and Teachers. 

The earliest mention of the pay of a schoolmaster was Jan- 
uary 6, 1650, when £30 was voted to Mr. Richard Norcross. 
This sum continued to be the salary for about seventy -five years. 
In 1683 it was agreed that those who dwell on the west side of 
Stony Brook be freed from the school tax of 1683, that they may 
be the better able to teach among themselves. Mr. Norcross 
was employed in 1685-86. Those who sent children to school 
were to pay threepence a week each, and all short of £20 the 
town would make up to Mr. Norcross; the town to pay for such 
children as their parents were unable to pay for, the Selectmen to 
be the judges. November 16, 1690, the town allowed £15 for 
the schoolmaster's maintenance. The rate parents were to pay 
for tuition was established at threepence a week for English, 
fourpence for writing, and sixpence for Latin. 

The town rates for 1687 were: rye, 4 shillings; Indian corn, 3 
shillings; oats, 2 shillings. In 1691 the prices were: rye and 
barley, 4 shillings; Indian corn, 4 shillings. Two shillings in 
money were to be taken as 3 shillings in grain. In 1697 oak wood 
was 7 shillings; walnut, 8 shillings. In 1703 carpenters working 
in the water were allowed 3 shillings a day, laborers on land 2 
shillings and 6 pence, and teams 5 shillings per day. 

In 1690 Nathaniel Stone was chosen schoolmaster at £15, 
which was granted by the town, 20 persons agreeing to pay 50 
shillings a quarter in addition. In 1693 Richard Norcross was 
chosen for one year to keep a month at the school-house, when, 
if a considerable number of scholars did not appear, he had liberty 
to keep all the year round at his house, the town to pay him £5 
additional. If he finds the scholars to increase, then from April 
to October in the school-house and the remainder of the year at 
his own house. He was also to catechize the children and all 



166 HISTORY OF WESTON 

others sent to him. In 1696 Edward Goddard was invited to 
teach the school. He replied, if the town would repair the school- 
house and give hini £20, he would accept; but the to^Ti refused 
his terms. The result was the town was fined at General Sessions 
for not having a school. In 1696-97 the town refused to have a 
grammar school, and appointed a committee to estimate the cost 
of repairing the school-house. Two of the committee reported 
the cost at £3 to £4. The others reported from 30 to 40 shillings, 
and 40 shillings was granted. In 1697 Mr. Goddard was again 
asked to keep the school, but it does not appear whether he ac- 
cepted or not. In 1699, however, he did agree to keep the gram- 
mar school. The next year he obtained his £20 salary and the 
rates from the "parents and owners of children." Mr. Goddard 
could not have continued long at his post, for in 1700 Rev. 
Samuel Parris agreed to keep the school at his place of abode until 
some other person could be chosen. In September, 1700, Mr. 
Norcross again becomes the schoolmaster at £10 and the usual 
rates from parents, they agreeing to send one-quarter cord of 
wood in winter. At this time Mr. Norcross had been a school- 
master forty-nine years, and he was seventy-nine years old. In 
November, 1700, it was voted to keep the school in the first and 
third quarters at the old school-house and the second and fourth 
quarters in the middle of the town. In 1705 £30 was voted for 
schools. 

In 1706, Mr. Mors having ceased to be the minister of the 
church in Weston in consequence of difficulties in the settlement, 
he was invited to keep the school and to be helpful to the 
minister for £40, and fourpence a week for all who sent their 
children. He accepted. This school was kept at Mr. Bigelow's 
house at Stony Brook. Mr. Mors removed to Dorchester in 1707, 
and died at Canton in 1732. In 1707 and 1708 Thomas Robie, 
who was graduated at Harvard in 1708 (probably the same who 
later is known as Dr. Robie of Wayland), engaged to keep the 
school half a year for £15, — the first quarter, seven hours, and 
the second quarter, eight hours, a day. Benjamin Shattuck fol- 
lowed in 1709, and continued to be the schoolmaster for six 
years, until 1714. In 1714 the town is presented at General Ses- 
sions for not having a writing-school, and the Selectmen report 



SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS 167 

they have chosen Mr. Joseph Woolson for such a master, and 
that he is acceptable to the town. The presentment was dis- 
missed with costs. In 1714 the Selectmen visited the president 
of Harvard College in search of a schoolmaster. He informed 
them "they could not have any student to keep their school." 
The teacher whom the town reported to the General Sessions 
they had procured was Abraham Hill, who married Thankful, 
daughter of Ebenezer Allen, of Weston. Mr. Hill was gradu- 
ated at Harvard College in 1737. 

In 1737 the town was again presented at General Sessions for 
not having a grammar-school master, but the Selectmen made 
return that they had provided one. The case was dismissed with 
costs. The town records being lost from 1712 to 1754, it is im- 
possible to give a history of the early progress in schooling for 
these years, but from other sources we find that from 1714 to 
1751 (or thirty -seven years) there had been 14 teachers, some 
of them serving for three and four years each. They were all 
graduates of Harvard College. Benjamin Brown, in his diary 
for 1718, charges the town for schooling 4 boys one week 10 
shillings; 2 boys five weeks, 5 shillings; and 1 boy four weeks, 
2 shillings. 

The first mention of schools in the second volume of town 
records, dated March, 1754, is the vote to pay Schoolmaster 
Cotton his last quarter, £6 Qs. lid., and to Nathaniel Williams 
£3 9^. 4c?, for boarding Mr. Cotton. The town refused to grant 
money for a reading and writing school. They voted that the 
school shall be kept two months on the north side at Josiah 
Hobbs's, and two months at Benjamin Bond's. 

In 1755 the town voted £40 for schools. This probably does 
not include the board of teachers, which the town paid. 

In 1760 the town votes £100 for schools. Beginning with 1761, 
the citizens vote £160 for the same and for other town charges, 
so that it is found impossible to keep informed of what sum was 
paid for schooling. This system continued down to a very late 
period. Many of the townspeople, both men and women, kept 
school, and all took turns in boarding the schoolmaster, being 
paid by the town for so doing. The minister took his turn with 
the other inhabitants, and was probably glad of the addition to 



168 HISTORY OF WESTON 

his slender salary. During the period of the Revolution the 
school-houses seem to have been very little in use, for we find at 
the close of that period that the buildings had been allowed to go 
to decay. Whatever schools there were during this time of trial 
were at private houses. Mr. Woodward and Dr. Kendal both 
kept school, and were paid by the town. Dr. Kendal received 
at his house the boys who were "rusticated" by the faculty of 
Harvard College for offences against discipline, and kept them up 
in their studies with the college classes. As we have elsewhere 
stated, many names of those who in after-life became distin- 
guished men in Boston passed periods of punishment in Weston. 
The small allowance of wood for the schools in winter strikes us 
to-day as almost cruel. 

In the year 1782 a committee, appointed by the town to select 
a spot for the Centre District School-house, reported that the 
south-east corner of the Eaton land would best serve the pur- 
pose, and it was voted that Major Samuel Lamson, Captain 
Isaac Jones, and Jonathan Fiske be a committee to purchase the 
land and build the school-house. This land measured forty by 
sixty feet. It was bought of Daniel and Ebenezer Eaton, who 
then owned as far as the Benjamin Peirce place, and the school was 
situated just west of Joel Upham's blacksmith-shop. The land 
was bought for £12, and the town gave the Batons its note for 
the purchase money; but as late as 1812 the note was not paid, 
and the town refused to pay it. This central school-house 
continued in use until 1793, when Isaac Jones gave land twelve 
rods square for a building on Highland Street, somewhat back of 
the present school-house. In 1793 Dr. Kendal gave land for a 
school building on Wellesley Street, and he received the thanks 
of the town. In the year 1795 all the school-houses were over- 
hauled. They were clapboarded, porches were added, and new 
benches and stoves introduced. In 1795, the old Eaton school- 
house being no longer occupied, Artemas Ward and others peti- 
tioned the town for the use of the building for a private school, 
which was granted. It would seem that at this early day it 
was as difficult to satisfy both parents and scholars as is the case 
to-day. The town officers receive a list of six charges brought 
against a teacher, signed by ten parents of children, who ask the 



SCHOOLS AND TEACIIKI^S 169 

dismissal of the teacher, as the money paid him is thrown away. 
The charges are worthy of a place here : — 

1st. You are requested to make the boys get their lessons, if not to 
thrash them and make them get them. 

2d. That you ride down hill upon a hand sled with your largest scholars, 
and that you break the sled. 

3d. You are charged with having severely punished the boy who owned 
the sled, without sufficient reason. 

4th. You are charged with using insulting language and gestures to 
Miss . 

5th. You are charged with partiality. 

6th. You are charged with talking and laughing for a very consider- 
able time together with your largest scholars. 

The final result of these charges is not recorded. 

In 1796 the town voted $1,000 to build a school-house in the 
North-west District. The old school-house in the North-east Dis- 
trict was sold by auction, and bought by Joseph Russell for £6. 

In 1803 $25 is appropriated to each district for a woman's 
school, $600 for the support of schooling, and $40 for each dis- 
trict for painting and repairing school-houses. In 1804 the ap- 
propriation is $125 for each district, a total of $750. In 1805 
$150 for each woman's school and $750 for men's schools. In 
1806 Dr. Bancroft, Isaac Fiske, and Dr. Samuel Kendal were 
chosen a committee to examine persons who apply to become 
school-teachers. 

In 1807 a census of school-children between the ages of four 
and eighteen was taken as follows: whole number, 374, — East 
Central District, 71; West Central District, 71; South-east Dis- 
trict, 58; South-west District, 37; North-west District, 54; 
North-east District, 83. It was voted to enlarge the North-east 
School-house. Voted $716 for the reading and writing schools 
and $200 for the women's schools. In 1810 voted to employ a 
music-teacher. In 1812 voted to build a new school-house in 
South-east District. 

Dr. Kendal in his centennial sermon, delivered in 1812, says: — 

Our schools in general have been well taught; the youth in this place 
have been as fully prepared for active service and usefulness as in any town 
of equal size in this Commonwealth. The schools are the hope of our 



170 HISTORY OF WESTON 

country. The culture of young minds, especially in religious and virtu- 
ous sentiments and habits, is of vast importance, not only to individ- 
uals, but to the commimity at large. 

In 1813 the town had six school districts, each provided with 
a school-house. 

In 1816 a new school-house was built in the South-west District. 
In 1817 $650 was appropriated for schools and wood, and $200 
for women's schools. This appropriation continued down to 
1837, with slight variation. In that year $1,000 was voted for 
schools and wood. In 1834 $50 was appropriated to purchase 
maps for the schools. In 1839 no teacher was allowed to keep 
an evening school without a vote of the majority of the in- 
habitants of the district. In those days, children were not 
allowed to wander about at night under any pretence whatever, 
and in many schools it was a rule for the scholar to report to 
the teacher the hour he reached home after the school of the day 
before. 

In 1832 and 1833 Mr. Andrew Dunn taught the South School. 
He next taught in Way land until 1836 and 1837, when he kept 
the winter term at the school "on the rocks" (so called) in Weston. 
In 1838 Mr. Dunn held a school- in the hall in the Jones tavern, 
now the dwelling of Mrs. John Jones. This was probably a 
private establishment, answering to what later on became our 
"High School." This school was very largely attended, numbering 
about fifty scholars of both sexes. The charges were three dollars 
for the common course; higher English and Latin, four dollars. In 
the winter of 1838 Mr. Dunn taught the school on the north side. 
He was a most painstaking teacher, a strict disciplinarian; and 
to those who were refractory or idle he applied liberally the 
essence of birch, sending the boys to the Willow Lane, so called, 
to cut and bring in to him the rods which were to be applied 
in corrective measures. Mr. Dunn is still in active life and a 
clergyman in the Baptist church. 

It was voted in 1839 "that a female teacher shall be employed 
in every school containing fifty scholars as the average number, 
also that the Selectmen report such measures as ought to be 
adopted to prevent the scholars from cutting, mutilating, defacing, 
and otherwise injuring the school-houses in the town and what 



SCHOOLS AM) TEACHEIJS 171 

punishment oii<;lit to be inflicted or penalty incurred for sucli 
offences." 

In 1834 the State School Fund Act was passed under Governor 
John Davis. This fund was to be derived from the sale of lands 
in the State of Maine and from the claim of the State on the 
government of the United States for military services, provided, 
nevertheless, that said fund shall not exceed $1,000,000. A cen- 
sus of the population of Weston was taken by order of the Com- 
monwealth concerning the disposal of the surplus fund, and the 
return of the assessors gave a population of 1,051. A return was 
also made to the town of the number of scholars in each school 
district in the town. The schools were kept fifteen weeks in 
winter and fourteen weeks in summer. The wages paid the 
female teachers was $£.75 per week; the master, $26 per month if 
he boarded himself, or $18 if boardqd by the town. The female 
teachers were paid $10 a month if they boarded themselves, or 
$5 a month if boarded by the town. 

Men's Schiiul. Female School. Tolal Pupih. 



South-west District . . 


. . 27 


19 


46 


South-east " . . 


. . 37 


19 


56 


North-east " 


. . 36 


24 


60 


East Centre " 


. . 22 


17 


39 


West Centre " . . 


. . 27 


33 


60 


North-west " . . 


. . 16 


16 


32 



Average in winter school attendance, 30; summer school, 10. 
155 scholars in men's school, 128 in female; total, 283 scholars. 
The books directed to be used by the School Act of the legislature 
were: American First Class Book, Walker's Dictionary, Wilkins's 
Astronomy, Almy's Geography, Smith's Grammar, Emerson's 
Arithmetic, Goodrich's History of United States, Perry's Spelling 
Book, Parley's Geography. The money grant from town for 
schools was $1,000, with $200 for women's schools in addition; 
and this sum continues down to the year 1840. 

In 1846 $1,050 was voted for schools, including fuel, and $300 
for summer schools, increased in 1849 to $1,100 and $350. In 
1851 three new school-houses were built at a cost of $4,111.92. 
In 1852 the West Centre School-house was built, one-quarter of 



172 HISTORY OF WESTON 

an acre being purchased of Miss Martha Jones for $50, but twelve 
rods more were taken, amounting to $72, upon which sum inter- 
est was to be paid, as there were too many heirs to obtain a 
deed. It was again found necessary to form rules and regulations 
concerning the use made of the school-houses by the scholars. 

In 1853 new school-houses were built in Districts 5 and 6 at a 
cost of $3,198.68. In 1854 a grant was made of $150 for a high 
school, and $5 to each school district, to be applied to the care of 
the school-houses and in making the fires. Mr. Ebenezer Gay 
was the first high-school teacher (one year, 1854-55). Mr. Train 
followed in 1855-56. He died in October, 1858. He taught the 
grammar school in Watertown in 1856 and 1858. 

In 1857 $500 was appropriated for summer schools out of 
the total sum of $1,400 appropriated. In 1860 the sum set 
aside for schools was $1,629.28; in 1870 it was $2,934; in 1880, 
$4,149.61; in 1889, $6,900. 

In Chapter X. (pp. 149, 150) details have been given of the 
construction of the high school. At a later date an additional 
plot of ground was purchased by the town from Henry J. White 
for a playground to be attached to this school. The sum of $400 
was paid therefor. 



XIII. 

Evangelical Churches in Weston. 

The historj' of the original Puritan church of Weston (wliicli, 
like so many others of New England, gradually and almost im- 
perceptibly merged into Unitarianism, and is now represented 
by its direct descendant, the First Parish Unitarian Church of the 
town) is almost identical with the history of the town itself 
in the first century of its existence. The town was a theocracy, 
and the records of the early settlement and of the later town 
proper are, as we have seen in previous chapters, thickly sprinkled 
with the records of the church. The old Puritan church was the 
church of the place, the established church; and for over a century 
or a century and a half no other denomination had any following, 
or at any rate any objective existence in the shape of buildings 
and organized corporations.* 

Of other sects the Methodist Episcopal Church (or society, as it 
was first called) was organized about 1794, the first preacher 
being Rev. John Hill. A chapel was erected in the rear of the 
present church on the Lexington road. It was a very modest 
building, without paint or plastering, having neither pulpit nor 
pews. This chapel was in the old Needham circuit, which con- 
sisted of Needham, Marlboro, Framinghara, and Hopkinton; 
the whole under the charge of one preacher, afterwards increased 
to three. The original society consisted of twelve members, and 
the first trustees were Abraham Bemis, Habakkuk Stearns, Jonas 
Beinis, John Viles, and Daniel Stratton. The membership of the 
church consisted of Ephraim Stearns, Susannah Adams, Jonas 
Bemis, Tabitha Bemis, Abraham Bemis, Abigail Bemis, Daniel 
Stratton, Elizabeth Bemis, Mary Bemis, Elizabeth Adams, Martha 
Stratton. The present church building was erected in 1828. In 
1833 this church became a station with a regularly appointed 
preacher, which included Waltham and Lincoln. In 1839 Wal- 

* Readers of this volume who are interested in the old church should read the interesting 
and scholarly volume of addresses published ou the occasion of the celebration of the two 
hundredth anniversary of its existence in 1898. 



174 HISTORY OF WESTON 

tham was detached, thereby reducing the membership of the 
Weston society from 141 to 83, and it has not materially in- 
creased since that date. From 1794 to the present time this 
parish has had 107 preachers. In March, 1888, George Weston, 
of Lincoln, died, aged eighty-eight. He had been a member of 
this society for seventy years. 

In October, 1864, the following petition was addressed to 
Edwin Hobbs, Esq., justice of the peace for Middlesex County: — 

Whereas the Methodist Episcopal Church Society in Weston, having 
for several years neglected to choose trustees of the Society, and there 
being no clerk legally qualified to call a meeting, we, the undersigned 
members thereof, respectfully request you to issue a warrant, calling a 
meeting of the qualified voters of the Society agreeable to the provisions 
of the Revised Statutes. 

The petition is signed by Franklin Childs, Amos Carter, Jr., 
Daniel Stearns, Abijah Gregory, and Abijah G. Jones. A war- 
rant was duly issued accordingly, returnable November 7, 1864. 
E. F. Childs was made clerk, and seven trustees were chosen. 

The following interesting printed account of the Methodist 
society in Weston, clipped from some magazine apparently, and 
not signed, was found with the manuscript of this book after its 
author's decease. It is styled "A Brief Histoiy of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, Weston (Kendal Green), Mass." 

The first house for public worship was erected in the year 1797, and 
stood in the pasture now owned by Mr. Fiske, to the right of the road 
leading toward the "poor farm." The structure was not imposing, but 
it was often filled with devout worshippers, and as a very aged member 
of the church told the writer of this article, though there were no stoves 
to warm them in winter, and they had but slabs on which to sit and hear 
the word of God, still the services were very helpful, very spiritual, and 
seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. 

Difficulties which we need not mention and opposition of which we 
need not speak were successfully met and overcome, and the society 
steadily grew until the place of meeting became "too strait" for them, 
and they began to agitate the building of another church. The old record 
refers to various meetings held in which the building of the "New Church" 
formed the main subject of discussion for the meeting. 

It was not, however, until the year 1828 that the arrangement was 
finally made and the church put under contract. On February 20 of that 
year an agreement (the old records say) was entered into between Francis 




THE KIFLKY HOUSE, WHEATON LANK. 

Built prior to 1740 by Dr. Wheaton. Here the Tory doctor secreted the British spy in 
1775. The place was confiscated, and later came into the possession of Dr. Bancroft. It is 
now owned and occupied by Mr. Francis B. Ripley. 




' " i ^^ ' -^r^- 'J ^ - " ' 



THE WILLIAM H. HILL HOUSE, WELLESLEY STREET. 

In his oration of .July 4, 1876, Mr. Charles H. Fiske said that the house was then 
supposed to be from one hundred and fifty to two hundred years old. There is much in 
its appearance to justify th(! Kreater age. It is supposed to be the oldest house still 
standinj; in the town to-day. 



EVANGELICAL CIIITRCHES IN ^\TSTON 175 

A. Pickering, Emery Bemis, George Weston, Thomas Jenkins (all of 
the town of Lmcoln), and Marshall Jones, of Weston, on the one part, 
and Whitman Peterson, of Duxbury, on the other; said Peterson to fur- 
nish materials and build a "meeting house" for the Methodist Society in 
Weston, on a lot of "land not far from the old meeting house." And 
the said Peterson to receive for his work the sum of one thousand seven 
hundred dollars ($1,700). Mr. Peterson entered at once upon his work, 
and the church was completed the following November, the church 
being dedicated January 8, 1829. 

The dedication was a great event, the Methodist people coming from 
near and far to join in the celebration. The singers seem to have been 
held in special favor, for at a meeting of the trustees it was voted that 
those assisting in the singing "on the day of dedication" shall have some- 
thing to eat and something to drink at "Milton Dagett's Tavern"; 
and that the expense shall be paid by the building committee. And there 
is a bill placed in the old record in which so much is charged for brandy, 
wine, and loaf sugar. It really looks as if our fathers were not quite as 
sound on the temperance lines as we are to-day. 

It would appear from an old subscription paper of the date July, 1828, 
that it was in the thought of the builders of the church proper to erect 
also a chapel for prayer and social meetings, and the names are given of 
quite a large number who pledged money for the purpose, but for some 
reason not given the chapel was not built. 

As the years went by, the necessity of a "Preacher's house," as the par- 
sonage used to be called, was more and more apparent, and various meet- 
ings of the trustees and stewards are recorded in which the matter was 
agitated; but it was not until the year 1850 that it was deemed "specially 
necessary" that a parsonage be built on "this station," and at a meeting 
held at the house of Brother Marshall Smith, May 14, it was finally 
voted to build a house for the preacher. Rev. H. C. Dunham presided 
at the meeting. Prayer was offered by Brother J. Whitman. Brother 
Hagar was appointed to secure a suitable "building lot." At an ad- 
journed meeting the report of Brother Hagar was received, and it was 
voted to accept the offer of Captain S. Fisk, and take 48 rods of land on 
Marshall Smith's line, 4 on the road, and 12 in the rear, and pay the sum 
of $100. It was further voted to build an "upright" house, 28 by 22, with 
an ell 24 by 14. 

Brothers H. C. Dunham, Joseph Whitman, Ephraim Brown, Rufus 
Babcock, and Franklin Childs were the building committee. The com- 
mittee proceeded at once with their work. The cellar was dug and stoned 
without charge. Mr. Samuel A. Willis, of Sudbury, contracted to build 
the house for $800. He commenced the work in July, and finished about 
the 1st of October. It has been occupied as a parsonage ever since. 

Repairs have been made on the church from time to time as it has needed, 
some $600 the last year of the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Noon and quite ex- 



176 HISTORY OF WESTON 

tensive during the pastorate of Rev. C. C. Whidden. It was at this time 
that the vestry over the vestibule was built, which is very convenient for 
the weekly meetings and the various social gatherings of the church. 

The church has been remembered recently by will in the gift of some 
$600 by the late Mr. Joseph Whitman, a former member of the society, 
and gift of an organ from Mr. Hastings's factory has just been presented 
to the church by Mrs. George F, Harrington. This latter gift is given 
in memory of Mrs. Harrington's mother, who for many years was a most 
faithful and devoted member of the church and deeply interested in its 
prosperity. 

The society has been favored with a succession of most worthy and 
faithful ministers, who have found their chief joy in declaring the glad 
gospel and doing what they might be able for the people in the ways of 
righteousness. 

The list following dates back to the year 1794 : — 

1794, John Hill. 

1795, John Vanneman. 

1796, Joshua Hall, George Pickering. 

1797, Daniel Ostrander, Elias Hull. 

1798, David Brumley, Epaphras Kibby. 

1799, Stephen Hull, Elijah R. Sabin. 

1800, Nathan Emory, John Finnegan. 

1801 , Joseph Snellmg. 

1802, Joshua Soule, Dan Perry. 

1803, Reuben Hubbard, Thomas Ravlin. 

1804, Nehemiah Coy, Joel Wicker. 

1805, Clement Parker, Erastus Otis. 

1806, John Gove, Thomas Asbury. 

1807, Benjamin Hill, Isaac Scarrett. 

1808, John Tinkham, Isaac Locke. 

1809, Benjamin R. Hoyt, Nathan Hill. 

1810, Isaac Bonney, Robert Arnold. 

1811, Isaac Bonney, Elias Marble. 

1812, Elisha Streeter, John Vickory. 

1813, Orlando Hinds, Vanransalear R. Osborn. 

1814, Orlando Hinds, Zenas Adams. 

1815, Vanransalear R. Osborn, Bartholomew Otheman. 

1816, Orlando Hinds. 

1817, V. R. Osborn, B. Otheman. 

1818, John Linsey, Isaac Bonney. 

1819, David Kilburn, Isaac Stoddard, 

1820, V. R. Osborn, Nathan Paine, J. W. McKee. 

1821 , Benjamin Hazeltine, J. W. Case. 
1822-23, Erastus Otis, George Fairbank. 



EVANGELICAL CHURCHES IN WESTON 177 

1824, Benjamin Hazeltine, Ira Bidwell, John E. Risley. 

1825, Jolin Lindsey, Hezekiah S. Ramsdell, and Jared Perkins. 

1826, Joel Steel. Leonard B. Griffin, and Jared Perkins. 

1827, Ephraim K. Avery, Giles Campbell. 

1828, Ephraim K. Avery, Louis Jansen. 

1829-30 Daniel Fillmore, Isaac Jennison, and A. B. Jvmsman. 

1831, Jacob Sanborn, Sanford Benton, and Samuel Palmer. 

1832, Abraham D. Merrill, Samuel Coggshall. 
1833-34, Ames Binney. 

1835, Benjamin F. Lambord. 
1836-37, Epaphras Kibby. 
1838-39, Nathan B. Spaulding. 
1840-41, George Pickering. 
1842-43, William R. Stone. 
1844-45, Henry E. Hempstead. 
184&-47, Kinsman Atkinson. 
1848-49, Thomas Hicks Mudge. 
1850-51, Howard C. Dunham. 

1852-53, John Cadwell. 

1854-55, John S. Day. 

1856, Abraham M. Osgood. 

1857-58, Moses P. Webster. 

1859-60, John M. Merrill. 

1861-62, Oliver S. Howe. 

1863, Nathan A. Soule. 

1864, William A. Braman. 

1865, Jabez W. P. Jordan. 
1866-67, Porter M. Vinton. 
1868-69, George Sutherland. 
1870-71, William F. Lacount. 
1872-74, William H. Meredith. 
1875, S. O. Dyer. 

1876-77, George E. Sanderson. 

1878, William Merrill. 

1879, William P. Blackmer. 

1880, William H. Adams. 
1881-84, Samuel H. Noon. 
1884-85, J. W. Adams. 
1886r-87, Charles Nicklin. 
1888-91, E. H. Thrasher. 
1891-92, A. A. Loomis. 
1892-94, C. C. Wliidden. 
1894, Samuel H. Noon. 



178 HISTORY OF WESTON 

The first Baptists in Weston began to gather together about 
1776, meeting at each other's houses, under the lead of Deacon 
Oliver Hastings, who was baptized in Framingham in 1772. 
March 29, 1784, four young men — Justin Harrington, Samuel 
Train, Jr., James Hastings, and Joseph Seaverns — contracted 
to build a meeting-house thirty-one feet square. This building 
was first occupied in 1784, and finished in 1788. It was erected 
on land belonging to the Nicholas Boylston estate. As we see 
by the deed of Moses Gill, he releases "all right, title, and interest 
in and to the Baptist meeting-house in Weston, or any money due 
from said meeting-house or society, to Reuben Carver." Moses 
Gill was an heir to this property through his marriage with 
Rebecca, daughter of Thomas Boylston. 

In 1789 a church of sixteen members was recognized by the 
ecclesiastical council. When the Baptists and Methodists began 
to erect places of public worship in the town, they signified their 
intention to "sign off" (so termed in those days) from the estab- 
lished church, as it may very properly be called. But, before they 
could be released from paying their taxes to this town church, 
they were required to produce, to the satisfaction of the Select- 
men of the town, a certificate from the Baptist or Methodist 
church, testifying that they paid the tax for the support of the 
gospel ministry in their respective churches. This was done in 
the following manner: — 

This may certify that Mr. Samuel Bingham and Jacob Leadbetter have 
attended public worship with the Baptist Society in Weston, since March, 
1788, and pray to be excused from paying tax to the other religious so- 
ciety, as they bear their part in supporting the gospel with the Baptist 
Society. 

In 1788 a protest was presented in town meeting concerning this 
matter of town taxation for the support of the minister and repairs 
of the town church, as being against the "bill of rights" and illegal. 
The town does not seem to have paid any attention to this pro- 
test, as there is no action recorded on the town records, and the 
protest cannot be found among the town papers. 

The Baptist society had no settled minister till 1811, at which 
time they ordained Charles Train as pastor of this church, and 



evan(;elical ( hirches in wkstox 179 

a branch was formed at Franiingham that year. The Weston 
church from 1811 to 1826 was known as the Weston and Frani- 
ingham church; but in 1826 the Franiingham branch became a 
distinct church, retaining Mr. Train * as their pastor until 1839. 
The Weston church numbered about forty members. 

The present church, near the centre of the town, was erected 
in 1828, Mrs. Bryant giving $1,000 to the parish for that purpose, 
and Mr. Hews giving the land. The material of the old church 
was used in erecting the parsonage in 1833. In 1830 Rev. 
Timothy P. Ropes, a graduate of Waterville College, was ordained 
as pastor of this church, remaining three years. At the twenty- 
fifth anniversary of the Boston Baptist Association, held at New- 
ton in 1832, mention was made of the growing church in Weston, 
and of the fact that a sister had given a thousand dollars to the 
society and a brother had given the land. At the twenty-sixth 
anniversary of the association the delegates from the Weston 
church were Joseph Hodges, Jr., Deacon Uriah Gregory, Isaac 
Jones, and John Dunn. 

In 1835 candidates who were preparing for the Baptist minis- 
try, and belonged to the Weston church, were Andrew Dunn, 
Elbridge Smith, and Benjamin W. Roberts. 

In 1822 a second protest was made in town meeting as follows: 

The undersigned members of the Baptist and Methodist Societies in 
Weston, having been compelled in years past, by illegal assessments, to 
defray a proportional part of the expenses annually recurring in the Con- 
gregational Society of said town, such as the making and collecting the 
ministerial tax, ringing the bell, providing wood, abatement of parish 
taxes, repairing the meeting-house, &:c., do earnestly petition that some 

♦Charles Train, the third child of "Deacon" Samuel and Deborah (Savage) Train, was 
born January 7, 1783. Receiving his elementary education in the Weston district school, 
he completed his preparation for college with Rev. Samuel Kendal. He graduated from 
Harvard with distinction in 1805. At first he intended to become a lawyer, having aptitudes 
which enabled him to perform distinguished service in civic affairs. But in 1806 he decided 
for the Baptist ministry. At this time, through particular interest in his native town, he united 
with the Baptist church, and thereafter he continued to preach to this church until 1820, 
dividing his time between Weston and Franiingham. This was due to his attachment to his 
native town and church. Although living and working mostly in Franiingham, he continued 
his double service, and caused the society at Franiingham to be a branch of the Weston church. 
He served several terms after 1822 in the House and Senate of the State legislature, being 
prominent in the formation of the State library and in revising the laws relating to common 
schools. Not least was his championship of religious liberty and social improvement. For 
a considerable period, while serving as the first pastor of the Baptist church, this son of Weston 
enjoyed a high reputation and wielded a large influence in civic and religious concerns. 



180 HISTORY OF WESTON 

measure may be taken by the town effectually to prevent the like im- 
position in future; that the aforesaid Baptist and Methodist Societies 
may be entirely exempt from all unjust charges and unlawful taxation. 

This petition was signed by twenty-two members of these 
societies. But the evil they complain of does not seem to have 
been effectually done away until the year 1840. Those who suc- 
ceeded Mr. Ropes in the ministry of this church are as follows: 
Rev. Joseph Hodges, Jr., settled in 1835, resigned in 1839; Rev. 
Origen Crane, settled in 1840, resigned in 1854; Rev. Calvin H. 
Topliff, settled in 1854, resigned in 1866; Rev. Luther G. Barrett, 
settled in 1867, resigned in 1870; Rev. Alonzo F. Benson, settled 
in 1870, died in 1874; Rev. Amos Harris, settled in 1875, resigned 
in 1890; Rev. Charles S. Hutchinson, settled in 1891, resigned in 
1892; Rev. J. Mervin Hull, settled in 1893, resigned in 1899; 
Rev. Frederic E. Heath, settled in 1900, resigned in 1904; Rev. 
Harry E. Hinkley, settled in 1905, resigned in 1911; Rev. James 
M. Leub, settled since August, 1912, the present pastor. 

(For more details as to the protests of the Baptists against 
paying money to support the all-prepotent Puritan, or First Parish, 
church in the town, see Chapter VII.) 

The first meeting of the Congregational Society as a constituent 
part of the Congregational denomination, or sect, was held in 
Weston Town Hall, January 4, 1891. In September following, by 
a cordial invitation of the First Parish, the meetings were trans- 
ferred to the chapel of that society. On October 29, 1891, the 
society was duly organized by the ecclesiastical council of the 
Congregational churches through the admission of Francis and 
Mary Hastings, Lucy Sherman, George A. and E. J. Hirtle, F. T. 
and Ella J. Fuller, Mary and Voluny Poor, H. F. and N. F. 
Davis, A. S. Burrage from Park Street Church, Boston, of Mrs. 
Burrage from Lancaster, of Mrs. Nathan Upham, John Schwartz 
from Bangor, Me., of Mrs. Harriet Warren from Weston Metho- 
dist Church, of Mrs. John McDonald, and Mrs. A. M. Upham 
from Boston. 

The reception sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. Sturgis, of 
Natick. At a meeting the same day a call was extended to Rev. 



EVANGELICAL CHURCHES IN TV^STON 181 

R. F. Gordon, and accepted by him. At a meeting held De- 
cember 8, 1892, steps were taken for the incorporation of the 
church. Land was purchased from Mr. A. H. Hews on Central 
Avenue, containing 21,150 square feet, and thereon a chapel was 
erected. The first service in the new chapel was held December 
18, 1892. The following is the list of the church officers: clerk 
of the parish, Mrs. F. C. Burrage; treasurer, A. S. Burrage; 
standing committee, H. F. Davis, E. J. Hirtle, A. S. Burrage, 
senior deacons, H. F. Davis, Francis Hastings; junior deacon; 
G. A. Hirtle. 



XIV. 

The Medical Profession. 

Robert Jennison would appear to have been the first doctor 
in Weston (in 1750), so far as any record can be discovered. 
It is probable that the physicians who visited Weston at an earlier 
period were from other towns. Dr. Jennison's charge for pulling 
a tooth was sixpence, or ninepence for two teeth! Peter, the 
doctor's brother, was tailor in Weston in 1750. 

In 1754 Dr. Josiah Converse receipts for attendance and medi- 
cines for the Jones family £12 ISs. He was probably not of 
Weston. Perhaps it would be safe to say that Dr. John Binney 
was the first physician who settled in Weston (about 1750). His 
widow married Daniel Adams, of Lincoln, in 1765. 

Dr. Josiah Starr, born at Dedhani in 1740, settled in Weston 
in 1762, and in that year married Abigail Upham, daughter of 
William Upham. He owned the Brookside Farm, now in the 
possession of heirs of Mr. Frederick T. Bush. His son Ebenezer, 
born in 1768, was a physician in Newton. Dr. Starr was prac- 
tising medicine in Weston in 1781. The date of his death is not 
stated. 

Ephraim Woolson, born in 1740, was graduated from Harvard 
in 1760; practised medicine in Weston, and died in 1802. 

Dr. William Ward, of Athol, born December 8, 1750, settled in 
Weston about 1780, and in 1785 married Lucy Jones, daughter 
of Isaac Jones. He was physician of the town until 1791. He 
died in 1793. 

Dr. John Clark was born in Halifax, N.S., May 14, 1778. 
His father was living at Halifax, having charge of the Ameri- 
can prisoners. He married Jennett, daughter of Mrs. Ruth 
Mackey, of Weston, and would seem to have been in practice as 
a physician in Weston between 1802 and 1805, the latter being the 
year of his death at the age of twenty-seven. 

Dr. Isaac Hurd, of Concord, practised largely in the north part 
of Weston. Dr. Bancroft studied medicine with him. He re- 



THE MEDICAL PROFESSION 183 

ceipts to Deacon Isaac Hobbs for a Continental (Congress) cer- 
tificate for $574 bequeathed him by Mrs. Abigail Jones, daughter 
of Isaac Hobbs. 

Joseph Taft was probably of Lincoln, but ])ractised in Weston. 
He makes out a bill to Isaac Hobbs, from "the beginning of the 
world to date," March, 1795, twelve shillings. 

Dr. Amos Bancroft was widely known throughout Middlesex 
County. He was born in Pepperell in 1767, and was graduated 
at Harvard College in 1791. He studied medicine with Dr. 
Hurd of Concord, came to Weston about 1795, and remained 
until 1811, when he removed to Groton. He filled several offices 
of the town, and took a leading part in town affairs. He married 
Sally Bass, of Boston, in 1796. She died in Weston in 1799. 
Dr. Bancroft had an extensive practice, and at various times a 
considerable number of students under his charge. Among these 
was Dr. George C. Shattuck, who in 1811 married Eliza Cheever 
Davis, of Weston. During the winter, when the roads were 
blocked up with snow, he travelled on snow-shoes, and often he 
would be absent from home several days at a time. On one 
occasion he stopped at night at a tavern in order to see a patient. 
Passing through the bar-room, he noticed two evil-looking men, 
who eyed him in a suspicious manner. When he came out, the 
men had gone. The road from the tavern was lonely, and the 
place was three miles from the village. As the doctor had con- 
siderable money with him, he felt anxious, and not without cause, 
for, when he reached a secluded spot, these very men stepped out 
and tried to stop his horse. One of them snatched at the bridle, 
but missed it. The doctor, whipping the animal, left the men 
behind, but not before a bullet passed through the back of his 
sulky. While m Weston, Dr. Bancroft owned and occupied the 
Parson Woodward house, now Mrs. Dickson's. In 1848 he was 
one day crossing State Street in Boston, when he was knocked 
down and injured so severely that he died a few hours later. He 
was attended in his last moments by his old student, Dr. George 
C. Shattuck. He was seventy-seven years old at the time of his 
death. 

Dr. Bancroft's son, Thomas Bigelow Bancroft, was graduated 
at Harvard m 1831, and studied medicine with Dr. Shattuck. 



184 mSTOEY OF WESTON 

Dr. Benjamin James followed Dr. Bancroft as the physician of 
Weston in 1812, and remained its very popular and highly 
esteemed practitioner for over thirty-six years, until 1847 or 1848, 
when he removed to New Jersey, where he died. Dr. James 
filled different offices in the town, and was for many years town 
clerk, succeeding Isaac Fiske, Esq., in that office. He occupied 
for many years the house which stood adjoining the old Lamson 
store, where now stands the Cutting grocery. In 1814 Dr. James 
published a book on Dentistry, which was highly considered in its 
day. 

Dr. Otis E. Hunt was born in Sudbury in 1822, and settled in 
Weston in 1848, where he remained until 1864, when he removed 
to Waltham, and now resides in Newtonville as a consulting 
physician. Dr. Hunt built the house now owned by Mrs. Sears. 

Edgar Parker, of Framingham, followed Dr. Hunt in 1865. 
He was graduated at Harvard Medical College in 1863, and was 
assistant surgeon in the Thirteenth Regiment at the time of the 
war, and severely wounded in the battle of Gettysburg. He 
remained in Weston until 1867, when he relinquished his profes- 
sion and became a portrait painter, and is now among the ablest 
of our artists. While in Weston, he was very popular both as a 
physician and for his social qualities, and his leaving was much 
regretted by the people. From 1867 to 1878 Dr. Parker was 
followed by three or four young men, whose stay was too short 
to leave much, if any, noticeable record. Dr. Parker died at 
Bridgewater in 1892. 

In 1878 Dr. Mayberry followed Dr. Smithwick. Little is known 
of his antecedents. He remained in Weston until 1885, when he 
removed to Weymouth. 

Dr. Frederick W. Jackson, born in Jefferson, Me., in 1858, 
studied medicine with Dr. Whittemore, of Gardiner, Me. He 
was graduated at the Long Island Medical School, and came to 
Weston in 1885. He built the house south of the church, and 
still continues to be the resident physician of the town. 

No mention is made among the records of Dr. Wheaton, of 
Weston. The only mention made of him is in the Journal of 
Howe, who was General Gage's spy in Weston previous to the 
battle of Concord. Howe was secreted in Dr. Wheaton 's house 



THE MEDICAL PROFESSION 185 

when the Liberty Men of the town gathered at Isaac Jones's 
tavern, the Golden Ball, carrying tar and feathers with which 
to decorate the spy, if caught in the house. Mr. Jones had, 
previous to their visit, sent him to the doctor's house, he being 
a Tory friend. Dr. Wheaton's house was that now owned by 
Mr. Ripley, then known as the Goldthwaite house, and later 
occupied by the inventor, Ira Draper. 



XV. 

The Taverns. 

It has been found impossible at this late date to give what 
would otherwise be a highly interesting history of the old-time 
taverns that existed in such great numbers throughout Massa- 
chusetts previous to, and for many years after, the Revolution. 
It is often asked how it was possible for so many taverns to have 
been profitable in so close proximity to each other, as was the 
case in every village along main routes throughout New England. 
The main road through Weston was the most important thorough- 
fare in early days, connecting Boston with Connecticut, New 
York, Pennsylvania, and Washington. As late as 1835 the mail- 
coaches passed through Weston for Boston (about midnight). 
The mail agent, who accompanied each coach, was required by 
law to blow a horn as he passed through the towns, that heavy 
teams and other obstructions might be moved out of the way of 
the United States mails. The horn also gave notice to those 
desiring to take passage that they should be on the spot and not 
delay the mails. President Quincy gives an interesting picture 
of stage-coach travel at the close of the last century. He travelled 
frequently over our road on his way to New York, when he was 
engaged to a New York lady. Boston then had 20,000 inhabi- 
tants, and New York had only 30,000. Two coaches and twelve 
horses sufficed for the travel between the two commercial centres 
of our continent. The journey between the two cities was under- 
taken by few, and took as long to accomplish as it now takes a 
steamer to go to Europe. Mr. Quincy writes: — 

The carriages were old, and the shackling and much of the harness made 
of rope. One pair of horses took the coach eighteen miles. Stopping- 
places for the night were reached at ten o'clock, and passengers were 
aroused between two and three in the morning, by the light of a farthing 
candle. Sometimes they were obliged to get out of the coach to help 
get it out of a quagmire or rut. They arrived at New York after a week's 



THE TAVERNS 187 

hard travelling, but wondering at the ease as well as the expedition with 
which the journey was effected. 

"Oh! the days are gone when the merry horn 
Awakened the echoes of smiling morn, 
As, breaking the slumbers of village street, 
The foaming leader's galloping feet 
Told of the rattling swift approach 
Of the well-appointed old stage-coach." 

The country postmaster's duties in those days (particularly 
in winter) were of a more disagreeable nature than now, to say 
nothing of the small compensation then received from the govern- 
ment. There were then few newspapers, and what there were 
the postmasters were not required to mail. Their transmission 
over mail routes was done by the drivers of the coaches, who 
threw the papers out as they passed along their routes. The 
newspapers of that day were taken by clubs of three or four 
persons, and were passed from one to another, as is still the 
practice in some parts of England. This is probably one reason 
why so few old newspapers have been preserved. They were 
printed on very poor paper, usually manufactured at the printing- 
offices, and were consequently little calculated to stand the wear 
and tear of time and handling. 

As stage routes increased and opposition lines were established, 
each had its tavern headquarters for the exchange of horses and 
for the entertainment of travellers. This business, together 
with the enormous amount of teaming from Vermont and New 
Hampshire, as well as from back towns of our State, and the large 
droves of cattle and hogs which passed over our road on their way 
to the towns of Brighton and Charlestown, was a great source 
of profit to the nuuierous taverns. The access to Boston for 
some years after the Revolution was not so easily accomplished 
as now. It was long and circuitous. All teaming and travel to 
that city from the interior was through Cambridge, over Winter 
Hill in Somcrville to Charlestown on one side, and through 
Brighton and Roxbury on the other. In 1780 there was no bridge 
over Charles River. All commuuicatiou was by ferriage. Isaac 
Jones, of Weston, provided timber for the Charles River bridge 
to the amount of £159 IS.s-. C)d. 



188 HISTORY OF WESTON 

The oldest record of a tavern in Weston is that of Thomas 
Woolson, who settled in the town in 1660. In 1672 he purchased 
250 acres of land of Richard Norcross, and in 1697 he bought 
the farm of John and Richard Coolidge. He was sentenced in 
1685 to a fine of 20 shillings and costs and one hour in the stocks 
for selling drink without a license. He kept a tavern from 1685 
to 1708, and died in 1713. He was a Selectman in 1699, 1700, 
1702, and 1703. Thomas Woolson, his son, succeeded his father 
in the tavern. He was born in 1677. Thomas's daughter, Mary, 
married in 1724 Major Fullam, she being his second wife. In 
1737 Isaac Woolson, who succeeded his father, Thomas, in the 
tavern, petitions the Court of General Sessions, praying that 
his license may be continued to him, as he has moved his house 
some distance from the original site. The Woolson stand was 
that now in possession of the heirs of Isaac Fiske. 

The next tavern of which we have any record is that of Lieu- 
tenant John Brewer, who was born in 1669 in Sudbury, but moved 
to Weston in 1690. In 1693 he married Mary Jones. He died 
in 1709, leaving a farm and 216 acres of other lands, also a saw- 
mill and grist-mill. His nephew, Colonel Jonathan Brewer, Jr., 
commanded a regiment at Bunker Hill, and was afterwards a 
tavern-keeper in Waltham. In 1716 John Brewer's widow was 
licensed to keep a public house in Weston. Josiah Smith, son 
of William Smith, born in 1722, married Hepzibah Stearns, of 
Lexington, in 1744. It is presumed he kept the tavern, now the 
residence of Mrs. John Jones. His son Joel succeeded to the busi- 
ness at his father's death. He was a leading Liberty Man during 
the Revolution, and his tavern is spoken of in Howe's Journal 
just previous to the battle of Concord. This tavern was one 
of the most noted between Boston and Worcester. It has passed 
through many hands since the death of Joel Smith Washington 
Peirce succeeded Joel in the tavern in 1817 on his marriage with 
a daughter of Joel, and continued to be its landlord for ten years. 
He was succeded by J. T. Macomber, Colonel Woods, and others, 
until the property was purchased by Colonel John Jones. The 
tavern of the Golden Ball, kept by Isaac Jones (born in 1728), 
is also mentioned in Howe's Journal. Mr. Jones was a noted 
Tory, and was reported to have kept General Gage informed of 



\ 



THE TAVERNS 189 

the arms and aniniunition held by the Liberty Men throughout 
this section. Squire Barnes, of Marlboro, also mentioned in 
Howe's Journal, married a daughter of Mr. Jones, and was also 
a pronounced Tory. So dangerous and obstinate an opponent to 
the cause of liberty was Mr. Jones considered that he brought 
down on himself the following denunciation in the Worcester 
Convention in 1775: — 

Resolved, That it be earnestly recommended to all the inhabitants of 
this county, not to have any commercial transactions with Isaac Jones, 
but to shun his house and person and to treat him with the contempt 
he deserves. 

Mr. Jones died m 1813. The British officers were frequent 
guests at this tavern, driving out from Boston for suppers and 
sleighing parties. It was said that General Gage was also of 
these parties. Rebecca Baldwin, in her highly interesting diary, 
extending from 1756 to 1787, makes mention in 1773 of a dinner- 
party at Mr. Savage's at which her husband was invited to meet 
General Gage and his officers. 

Captain Samuel Baldwin, who married for his second wife Re- 
becca Cotton, daughter of Rev. John Cotton of Newton, in 
1762, succeeded Isaac Woolson in the tavern on the Isaac Fiske 
property. Captain Baldwin figures largely in town affairs through- 
out the Revolution. At the time of the Shays Rebellion in 1787 
the troops from Boston, on their way to Springfield, bivouacked 
one night along our road, and the officers lodged at the Baldwin 
tavern. Here Dr. Gowen, of Weston, joined the forces as surgeon, 
and acted as such until the termination of the trouble. In 1806 
Jonas Green kept this tavern, but in 1811 it became the 
property of Isaac Fiske. 

The John Flagg tavern figures in history as the place where 
General Washington and suite passed the night in 1789, when 
on their way to Boston. A full account of this will be found in 
Chapter VII. of this volume. At what date Mr. Flagg began 
keeping this tavern has not been discovered. The first license on 
record is that of 1791; })ut he was the landlord before the Revo- 
lution, and continued to be such until 1812, when he sold the 
property to Thomas Stratton, taking up his residence on the prop- 



190 HISTORY OF WESTON 

erty now owned by Horatio Hews. Mr. Stratton kept the tavern 
until 1823, when he sold the estate to Alpheus Bigelow, who leased 
it to Lyman H. Hunter, J. T. Macomber, Dana Bruce, and William 
Drake, who succeeded each other in rapid succession down to 
1830, about which time Mr. Bigelow sold to Mr, James Jones. 
Mr. Jones kept the tavern until his death, and was succeeded by 
his son James Jones, at whose death it ceased to be a tavern, and 
is now the property of Mr. Charles Emerson. 

Benjamin Peirce, father and son, kept a tavern down to 1785 
in what is now the house of Mr. Beals. The estate in that year 
was sold by Colonel Samuel Lamson, executor of Mr. Peirce, to 
Rev. Dr. Kendal for £490 3d. 

Previous to the Benjamin Peirce tavern on the site of what is 
now the Beals house, Mr. Peirce either built or owned a tavern 
situated on a bridle road running through the present Perry farm, 
which road connected Weston with Lexington and Reading. 
The cellar of this old house may still be seen. 

There were few houses of any importance in all these years that 
had not first or last served as taverns. It was the most profit- 
able business of all country towns along the main arteries of 
travel. It was not unusual for fifty to one hundred teams to 
be put up over night at a single tavern. The Lamson house 
was also a tavern for a while, even down to the death of Colonel 
Lamson in 1795. Benjamin Peirce, who married Mary Lamson, 
died there in 1819. 

Joseph Russell, son of Thomas Russell, who was born in 1745, 
and in 1773 married Susannah Upham, kept a tavern for thirty- 
one years, from 1791 to 1822. How many years before 1791 he 
may have done so there is no record to show. 

The Daggett tavern, so called, was built in 1821 by Charles 
Wesson. Daggett kept this tavern for twelve years, until 1833, 
when Davis succeeded him, but it was unoccupied when destroyed 
by fire in 1844. This tavern was on the Concord road, on the 
corner of the road to Lincoln. There was also an inn on the 
opposite corner. 

Charles Warren at one time kept the famous Punch Bowl 
hostelry in Brookline, but sold out and returned to Weston in 
1821, and assisted Wesson in building the Daggett tavern The 







THE MARSHALL UPHAM HOUSE, ASH STREET. 

Supposed to have been built about the year 1700, perhaps even earUer. It was torn down 
a few years ago by the MetropoHtan Water Works, when their new water system was estab- 
hshed. 




TIIK FREDERICK T. lUSU llul SE, SOUTH AVENUE. 

Probably about two hundred years old, and orif^inally known as the old Starr Farm. 
Formerly owned by Dr. Bowditch, by whom it was sold in ISoll to Frederick T. Bush, who 
extensively remodelled the hou.se in 1858. It is still owned and occupied liy the descendants 
of Mr. Bush. The photograph is of the old house. 



THE TAVERNS 191 

property on both sides of the road is still owned by George W. 
and Cornelius Warren, of Waltham. 

Isaac Train kept a tavern on the south side of the town, the 
estate now of Irving, near the Needhani line. Train was landlord 
for eight years,— from 1802 to 1810. 

Daniel Upham, Luther Robbins, Samuel Clark, Josei)h Darrah, 
and T. A. Stone w^ere also licensed innholders in Weston, but 
their several locations are not stated. 

It is deeply to be regretted that much of the jovial and social 
life within these taverns has not been handed down to us. Gam- 
bling, or, perhaps more correctly speaking, card-playing, was 
before the Revolution, and for many years after, a common 
practice, not by any means confined to any one class of people, 
but prevailed generally among rich and poor, old and young 
alike. None would have thought it wrong to stake money or 
valuables upon the result of games of chance of any sort. In 
fact, no games were played without a stake, however small. 

Lotteries both among individuals and towns. States and col- 
leges, prevailed everywhere. In 1784 Weston petitioned the 
General Court for authorization to institute a lottery to raise 
£1,000 for the purpose of widening the great bridge at Water- 
town, and a committee was appointed by the town to dispose of 
the tickets. Isaac Jones would seem to have been the selling 
agent of these tickets. In 1790 the monthly State lottery was 
drawn in the chamber of the House of Representatives in Boston. 
In 1791 Thomas Hancock advertises State lottery tickets for 
sale, in halves, qiuirters, and eighths, for a prize of $10,000. Har- 
vard College raised funds by lottery, and in New York State 
lotteries were instituted for every conceivable purpose, until 
finally they became so corrupt that the legislature prohibited 
them by statute. Private lotteries in churches and fairs have, 
how^ever, continued down to om* own day. About the year 1830 
commenced the temperance and anti-card-i)laying crusade, result- 
ing in 1838 in the first stringent huvs against liquor selling, and 
especially against retailers. This movement led up to the famous 
"fifteen-gallon law-," the result of which was that, from being 
obliged to have a large quantity of spirits on hand at one time, old 
topers were perj)etually drunk. 



192 HISTORY OF WESTON 

With regard to card-playing and games of chance of whatever 
sort, the habit had become so general and firmly established that 
all manner of devices were resorted to for the purpose of con- 
cealment in taverns and public houses. Until within a few years 
there existed in the attic of Joel Smith's tavern a concealed 
room, not easily discovered by the uninitiated, in which was a 
table covered with a green baize cloth, where card -playing was 
continued as long as the house was a tavern. If report is true, 
the degenerate sons of early Bible-loving Christians were in the 
habit of resorting to this unliallowed spot even on the Lord's 
Day, and, while within reach of the preacher's voice across the 
way, would deal around the damning cards, now and again seek- 
ing to drown their quickening consciences in free potations of 
rum and sugar. While the names of some of these Sabbath- 
breakers are familiar to our people, suffice it to say, as a consola- 
tion to those who have forsaken the Calvinism of Dr. Watts or 
the strict letter of the Westminster Catechism, that many of those 
so unmindful of the ordinances of religion and propriety were, in 
after-life, overtaken with great worldly prosperity. 

Although the taverns were gradually declining in their business, 
they continued to exist until about 1830, when the steamboats and 
railroads rendered stage routes unnecessary and competition un- 
profitable. Add to these obstacles the increasing restrictions on 
the sale of spirits, which finally broke down this once interesting 
and wide-spread business. So great has been the change in this 
respect in Weston that for more than thirty years there has not 
been an abiding-place for man or beast in the town outside of 
private hospitality. There are probably few other towns in the 
Commonwealth of which this can be said. 



APPENDICES. 



APPENDIX 1. 

Rev. Samuel Kendal's Letter of Acceptance. 
(See Chapter I.) 

Mr. Samuel Kendal's answer delivered in town meeting: — 

My Christian Friends, — You having given me a call to settle with you 
in the gospel ministry may justly expect that I should consider it in a 
religious view, and give such an answer as may appear to me to be con- 
sistent with my duty. My answer is important to both you and myself, 
and to heaven have I looked for direction and earnestly desired to know 
wherein my duty consisted, with a disposition to conduct accordingly: 
I have likewise used the ordinary means for obtaining direction by con- 
sulting many friends, whose advice ought, as in such cases, to be taken and 
well considered. The first thing to be attended in the call is the minority 
of the people, this not so great as I could wish. Several whose friendship 
would afford me peculiar satisfaction, are opposed to my settlement, 
but, having conversed with the majority of them, I find that their objec- 
tions are mostly founded upon misinformation and wrong apprehensions 
with respect to those things to which they object, and considering 'tis 
not probable the town will be better united in the choice of another, I 
can by no means suppose it to be my duty to give a negative answer, 
because some worthy men have not given their votes in favor of me, but 
I am sorry to say, that the measures taken by some amongst the nays, do, 
in some degree, lay me under a necessity to accept your call, and were 
there nothing further to be considered my answer would be affirmative, 
but it is no less a minister's duty to exercise prudence about those things 
that tend to his comfort and support, while he is engaged in his ministry, 
than it is for any denomination of men to provide for the comfort of them- 
selves and families: and as the salary proposed is thought by all my 
advisers and by myself, insufficient for the support of a minister, and as 
the wood offered will not, in my opinion, and the opinion of tliose who 
judge from experience be sufficient to maintain the fires that are neces- 
sary in a family, I must decline accepting your invitation upon the 
terms offered. Your offers too being less than for years past you found 
necessary to the support of your late worthy i)astor you can hardly 
suppose that I should l)e willing to accept the call under the present cir- 
cumstances. I do not wish to burden the people more than to enable me 
to do my duty among them, nor would I dispute the generosity of this 
people more than that of any others, but those that better know than I 



196 HISTORY OF WESTON 

do what is necessary to support a family do say that what you offer is 
not sufficient, and therefore you will receive this as a Negative answer, 
unless such alterations with respect to my support be made as may 
render it expedient for me to accept your invitation. This answer would 
have been given some months ago had it not been for the encouragement 
given me that the offer would be made better at the renewal of my call, 
so that you will not blame me for keeping you so long in suspense. 
I am with love and respect your sincere friend and well wisher, 

Samuel Kendal. 

The town, having considered Mr. Kendal's answer, voted to 
grant the sum of £10 in addition to the £80 heretofore granted, 
and also five cords of woods in addition to the fifteen cords of 
firewood, which makes in the whole £90 of money and twenty 
cords of firewood, upon which Mr. Kendal accepts the call. 



I 



APPENDIX 11. 

Rev. Joseph Field's Letter of Acceptance. 

(See Chapters I. and IX.) 

Boston, January 7th, 1815. 

My Christian Friends, — The result of your last meeting, and the vote 
by which you express your desire of my becoming your pastor has been 
officially announced to me. When I consider the office I am thus invited 
to accept, the duties which you are calling on me to perform, the char- 
acter which I am to assume, the relations in which I am to stand towards 
you, my mind is filled with anxiety and solicitude. I feel that it is no 
light matter to take upon me the load of a Christian minister. I feel 
that I am now called upon to decide a question the most important, the 
most interesting in its effects both to you and myself, whose decision 
involves subjects of the highest concern; consequences that extend 
beyond the grave. In forming a connection so lasting, so solemn, so in- 
timate as that between a minister and people, perhaps more time than 
you have given might have been desired for reflection and consideration ; 
but the peace and harmony with which you have acted and the unanimity 
which you have shown has prevented those difficulties which might 
otherwise have arisen on my mind, and by opening to me the prospect of 
being useful and successful in my calling has made the path of duty 
more plain and easy before me. In forming my determination, however, 
I trust that I have not acted with rashness, nor been influenced by any 
but the purest motives, and it is not without having first seriously con- 
sidered the duties of the station and deeply and prayerfully reflected upon 
the importance of the subject, that I now, with the approbation of those 
whose opinions are ever to be valued by me, and impelled by the feelings 
of my own heart, solemnly accept in the presence of that being whose 
servant I am, and whose cause I am to defend, the invitation you have 
given me to exercise over you the pastoral charge. In doing this I am 
sensible of my inability to fulfill so perfectly as I would wish, the many 
obligations which arise out of the ministerial office, an office which I 
enter upon with more diffidence, when I reflect upon the ability and faith- 
fulness with which he discharged its duties whose labors I am to continue. 
I tremble, indeed, at the great and awful responsibility of the station. 
But I put my trust in God, and look up to him for strength, for knowledge, 
for help. And I earnestly hope and trust your prayers, my brethren, 
may mingle with mine, in imploring our common father and friend, 
that he will make me sufficient for these things, that the connection in 
which we are about to engage may be mutually useful, and that having 
been faithful to each other on earth, we may hereafter meet in another 



198 HISTORY OF WESTON 

and a better world, and enjoy forever the riches of divine love. With 

esteem and respect I subscribe myself vours, ^ ^ ^ 

Joseph Jield, Jr. 

At the period of the call and installation of Rev. Mr. Field 
to the church in Weston in 1815 the long and heated controversy 
between Orthodoxy and Liberal Christianity may be considered 
to a certain extent as having culminated in this town; and, upon 
Mr. Field's occupancy of the Weston pulpit, its Congregational- 
ism ceased and Unitarianism became the prevailing creed, if so it 
can be called, of that church. It had become a rule at the latter 
part of the last century, when ministerial rates formed a part 
of the town taxes, and when the Baptist and Methodist churches 
were organized, to evade the taxes so levied for the maintenance 
of the ministry by declaring or "signing off" to other churches, 
and, by showing to the Selectmen of the town that they paid the 
tax for the maintenance of other churches, they were released 
from the town tax imposed for that purpose. By this means were 
removed in great part the doctrinal antagonisms which might 
otherwise have prevailed. That there should be still a sharp dis- 
play of criticism from many quarters over the new departure 
in church doctrine was to be expected. One of these criticisms 
was the charge made against the Unitarians of practising an 
adroit concealment of the changes of opinions they had under- 
gone in passing from Orthodoxy to Free Religion, the assigned 
motive for such concealment as stated being "to deceive an un- 
suspecting and confiding people" by "secretly undermining the 
prevailing faith" and "by working under covert towards a result 
which became too powerful for the people to resist." "Guilty 
silence had been practiced"; "insinuating methods had been 
used," etc. Dr. Morse, of Charlestown, published in 1815 a work 
in which all these explosive charges were made, and then war 
was indeed opened on the tented field of controversy. So far 
as Weston was concerned in all this war of creeds, the only re- 
maining published record which interested the Weston church 
were the verses written by Henry Pason Kendal, son of Rev. 
Dr. Kendal, of Weston, in the Concord Gazette of 1830, and 
addressed to those who say "religion is not preached at the Uni- 
tarian church in Weston, and is not possessed by its members": — 



REV. JOSEPH FIELD'S LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE 199 

Come! ye who deem yourselves so pure — 

To Truth and Justice bow ! 

You've shown your zeal too long I'm sure — 

Come ! show your knowledge now ! 

Ye boldly say, it profits naught 

To seek our House of Prayer; 

Ye say, there's naught but morals taught — 

There's no Religion there! 

And say you this without a blush? 

And of your neighbors too? 

Henceforth let all our tongues be hush — 

Religion dwells with you! 

Then teach us your religious faith! 

In charity impart; 

tell us what the Bible saith — 
We'll learn it all by heart! 

To say "Atonement should be taught, 

But that's kept out of view;" 

Not so! Christ's blood Atonement lorought. 

Our Preacher says so too! 

"He preaches Morals! nothing more. 

Which are of small account;" 

But are they not what Christ before. 

Once taught upon the Mount! 

Go! bring that sermon to your view! 

Then say, are Morals naught? 

1 fear ye never read it through — 
Or, maybe, have forgot! 

"Judge not!" I think you can't deny. 

Is in that sermon shown; 

And never search your neighbor's eye. 

Till you have cleans'd your own! 

Some say, that plunging saves from harm — 

Send sprinkled souls to hell! 

We don't believe the quantum charm 

Since tantum does as well! 

Now comes a solemn charge! ye say, 

There's no Religion there! 

What is Religion? tell us, pray — 

If James did not declare? 

Religion pure and undefil'd 

The Apostle says is this ! 

To visit every orphan child 

And Widow in distress — 



200 HISTORY OF WESTON 

To show the world's deceitful ways, 

And live unspotted here! S 

Exactly what our Preacher says, • 

In words distinct and clear! 

And therefore, he must stand or fall. 

With James th' Apostle sure ! 

If ye believe the Saint at all. 

Our Preacher is secure! 

He preaches pure Religion then! 

And this ye can't deny; 

Or else, his preaching's all in vain. 

And James has told a lie! 

There's one more charge I yet perceive — 

Ye think a weighty one! 

The Triune God we don't believe 

Nor Christ — Eternal Son! 

But surely we a Saviour need. 

To wash our sins away ! 

A Mediator, who will plead 

For such as go astray! 

Our Heavenly Father answers well 

As God of all supreme! 

And Christ we cannot spare at all. 

To make a God of him! 

That Christ was sent to mediate, 

Himself declares is true! 

Is Christ your God ! then plainly state 

Who mediates for you! 

And here I'll let the subject rest. 

You feel fatigued I know ! 

You cannot answer now the test — 

But will to-morrow though! 

I wish I could believe that all 

Your words were kindly meant; 

The road was bad, and we might fall! 

You spoke with good intent! 

But much I fear 'tis no such thing! 

I think I plainly see. 

That these ill-natured charges spring 

From want of Charity! 

And when you find yourselves inclin'd 

To censor us at all ; 

Just call the Saviour's words to mind 

And let the weapon fall ! 

Weston, January 18, 1830. 



APPENDIX III. 



Seating the Meeting-house, March 2, 1772. 



First Seat Below. 



Dea. Abijah Upham 
Isaac Jones .... 
Jonathan Stratton . 
Jonas Harrington . 
Jeremiah Whittemore 
Joseph Garfield 
William Upham 
John Jones . . 
John Allen . . 
Isaac Hager 
Edward Garfield 



Second Below 
Elisha Warren . 
Samuel Train . . 
Samuel Lamson . 
Jonas Harrington 
Saml. Philipps Savage 
William Whiting 
James Merick 
Samuel Severns . 
James Smith . . 



178 
178 
178 
174 
144 
143 
142 
140 
132 
130 
129 



125 
124 
123 
122 
120 
120 
118 
116 
115 



First Seat Front Gallery. 



John Merick . . 
Samuel Child . . 
John Lamson . . 
Joseph Whitney . 
Isaac Harrington 
Isaac Hobbs . . 
Benjamin Peirce 
Joseph Livermore 



114 
112 
112 
107 
110 
105 
105 
105 



Third Seat Below. 
Jeremiah Goodhue 
Daniel Livermore . 
Jediah White . . . 
Benjamin Jones . . 
Josiah Bigelow . . 
William Lawrance . 
Nathaniel Coolidge 
Thomas Rand . . 
Joseph Peirce . . . 



104 
102 
100 
97 
96 
96 
95 
95 
95 



10 



10 
10 
10 

10 



10 



10 
10 



10 



10 
10 
10 



Fourth Seat Below. 
James Livermore .... 93 
Thomas Russell 89 



10 
10 



10 
10 



10 



Joseph Lovewell . . 

Thaddeus Spring . . 

Lydia Goddard . . . 

John Bemis . . . . 
Jonathan Underwood 

David Stearns . . . 

Moses Harrington . . 

Samuel Severns, Jr. . 



First Seat Side Gallery 



Benjamin Bond . 
Ebenezer Phillips 
Elezebeth Hager 
Tabatha Wheeler 
Samuel Fiske . . 
Jonas Sanderson 
Jonas Peirce . . 
Jonathan Spring 
Joshua Peirce . . 
James Stimpson . 
Israel Whittemore 
Benjamin Fuller 
Increase Leadbetter 
Oliver Hastings 
John Brown 
Josiah Severns 
Jonathan Stratton, Jr 
Joel Smith . . 
John Flagg, Jr. 



The Fifth Seat Below. 



£ 


s. 


85 


- 


83 


- 


80 


- 


79 


10 


79 


10 


79 


- 


79 


10 


79 


10 


74 


10 


73 


10 


72 


- 


71 


- 


71 


10 


71 


4 


70 


10 


70 


- 


67 


- 


66 


- 


63 


7 


63 


10 


60 


- 


58 


- 


57 


- 


56 


- 


57 


- 


57 


- 


55 


10 


53 


10 


53 


10 


51 


- 


50 


- 


47 


10 


47 


- 


44 


- 


43 


- 


39 


- 



John Walker, Jr. 
Timothy Bemis, Jr 
Abraham Sanderson 
Uriah Gregory . 
Asa Smith . . . 
Benjamin Pollard 
Nathaniel Bemis 
Matthew Hobbs . 
Abraham Hews . 



Sixth Seat Below. 

William Bond 36 10 

Oliver Barber 35 - 

Hezekiah Wyman .... 31 

Josiah Gary 29 - 

The second and third seat in the front 
left for the singers. 



APPENDIX IV. 



Town Clerks from 1721-1913. 



1721, Benjamin Brown, Ebe- 
nezer Allen. 

1722, Josiah Smith. 
1730-31, Nathaniel Goddard. 
1732-34, Josiah Livermore. 

1734, James Mirick. 

1735, Ebenezer Allen. 
1738, Ebenezer Allen. 
1754, Elisha Jones. 
1755-58, Nathan Fiske. 
1758-68, Braddyll Smith. 
1768-69, Josiah Smith. 
1770-74, Samuel Baldwin. 
1775, Samuel Samson. 
1776-77, Joel Smith. 
1778, Samuel Lamson. 
1779-80, Joel Smith. 
1781-86, Isaac Hobbs. 

1787, Samuel Lamson. 

1788, Isaac Hobbs. 



1789, Joseph Russell. 
1790-93, Isaac Hobbs. 
1794, Ebenezer Hobbs. 
1795-98, Isaac Hobbs. 
1799, Joseph Russell. 
1800-03, Isaac Hobbs. 
1804-08, Isaac Fiske. 
1808-09, Isaac Hobbs, Jr. 
1810-12, Isaac Fiske. 
1813-15, Nathan Hager. 
1817-18, Ebenezer Hobbs. 
1819-21, Isaac Fiske. 
1822-23, Daniel S. Lamson. 
1824-27, Isaac Fiske. 
1828-46, Benjamin James. 
1847-63, Nathan Hagar. 

1863-641^^^^"" ^"^^- . 

[Benjamin F. Morrison. 

1864-, George W. Cutting, Jr. 



APPENDIX V. 

Town Treasurers from 1754-1013. 



1754, Elisha Jones. 

1755, Nathan Fiske. 
1756-57, Elisha Jones. 
1758-68, Braddyll Smith. 
1769-70, Jonas Harrington. 
1771-73, Braddyll Smith. 
1774-78, Samuel Lamson. 
1779-82, Samuel Fiske. 
1783, Isaac Hobbs. 
1784-87, Samuel Lamson. 
1788-90, Joseph Russell. 

1791, Isaac Hobbs. 

1792, Artemas Ward. 
1793-97, Ebenezer Hobbs. 
1798-99, Joseph Russell. 
1800, Artemas Ward. 



1801-06, Isaac Lamson. 
1807-09, Isaac Hobbs, Jr. 
1810-11, Isaac Train. 
1812-15, Nathan Hager. 
1816-18, Ebenezer Hobbs. 

1819, Daniel S. Lamson. 

1820, Nathan Fiske. 
1821-23, Daniel S. Lamson. 
1824-34, Isaac Hobbs. 
1835, Charles Merriam. 
1836-46, Benjamin James. 
1847-58, Marshall Jones. 
1859, Charles Dunn, 
1860-89, Horace Hews. 
1890-, Henry J. White. 



APPENDIX VI. 

Representatives, 

Representatives from the town of Weston from the date of 
incorporation, 1712, to 1890: — 

Francis Fullam, 1713 to 1720, 1722, 1724, 1729, 1730, 1731, 
1736, 1737, He represented the town for fourteen years, 

Josiah Jones, Jr., 1716, 1721, 1725, 1726. 

Joseph Allen, 1727, 1728. 

Ebenezer Allen, 1732, 1733, 1734, 1735. 

Joseph Livermore, 1738, 1739, 1740, 1742, 1743, and 1749. 

Josiah Brewer, 1741, 1744, 1745, 1746, 1747. 

Abijah Upham, 1750, 1751. 

Elisha Jones, 1752, 1753, 1754, 1756, 1757, 1758, 1760, 1761, 
1762, 1763, 1773. 

Braddyll Smith, 1774, 1775, 1776. 

Abraham Bigelow, 1755, 1759, 1764, 1765, 1766, 1767, 1769, 
1770, 1771, 1772. 

Isaac Hobbs, 1777. 

Joseph Roberts, 1778, 1780. 

Josiah Smith, 1779, 1781. 

Samuel Fiske, 1782, 1783, 1786. 

Isaac Jones, 1784, 1785, 1787, 1788, 1789, 1790. 

Amos Bigelow, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794. 

Town refused to vote for representative in 1795. 

Artemas Ward, 1796, 1797, 1798, 1799, 1800. 

John Slack, 1801, 1802, 1803, 1804, 1805, 1806. 

Ebenezer Hobbs, 1807, 1809, 1810, 1811. 

Isaac Fiske, 1808, 1812, 1813, 1814. 

No representative sent in 1815, 1816. 

George W. Smith, 1817, 1818, 1819, 1820, 1821, 1822. 

Nathan Hobbs, 1823, 1824, 1826. 

No representative sent in 1825. 

Alpheus Bigelow, 1827, 1828. 



REPRESENTATIVES 205 



Jonas Cutter, 1829, 1830. 
Samuel Hobbs, 1831, 1832. 
Abijah Coburn, 1833, 1834. 
Henry Hobbs, 1835, 1836. 
Jonas Hastings, 1837, 1838. 
William Spring, 1839, 1840. 
S. F. H. Bingham, 1841, 1842. 
Edwin Hobbs, 1843, 1844. 
Voted not to send, 1845, 1846. 
Otis Train, 1847. 
No vote recorded 1848, 1849. 
Isaac Coburn, 1850, 1851. 
John A. Lamson, 1852, 1853. 
Voted not to send 1854, 1855. 
Alpheus Morse, 1856, 1863. 
Charles H. Fiske, 1867, 1871. 
Edward Coburn, 1875. 
Alonzo S. Fiske, 1878. 
Henry J. White, 1883. 
George W. Cutting, 1889. 



APPENDIX VII. 

Selectmen. 
From second volume of Records, 1754: — 
Elisha Jones, 1754, 1756, 1757, 1761, 1762. 
Deacon Abijah Upham, 1754, 1755. 
Captain Samuel Bond, 1754. 
Samuel Seaverns, 1754, 1756, 1757. 
Isaac Hager, 1754. 
Nathan Fiske, 1755. 
Abraham Bigelow, 1755, 1756, 1757, 1758, 1759, 1760, 1761, 1762, 

1763, 1764, 1765, 1766, 1767, 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771. 
Ebenezer Hobbs, 1755, 1757. 
Lieutenant Isaac Allen, 1755, 1756, 1757. 
John Hastings, 1756. 
Braddyll Smith, 1758, 1759, 1760, 1761, 1762, 1763, 1764, 1765, 

1766, 1767, 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771. 
Henry Spring, 1758. 

William Wliitney, 1758, 1759, 1760, 1761, 1762. 
John Warren, 1758, 1759, 1760, 1761, 1762, 1763, 1764, 1765, 1766. 
John Allen, 1759. 
James Stimpson, 1760. 
Samuel Train, 1763, 1764, 1765, 1798, 1799. 
Thomas Upham, 1763, 1764, 1765, 1766, 1774, 1775, 1776. 
Josiah Smith, 1766, 1767, 1768, 1769, 1771, 1772, 1773, 1774, 1775, 

1777, 1778, 1779. 
John Myrick, 1767, 1768, 1769, 1770, 1772, 1774. 
Jonathan Stratton, 1767, 1768, 1772. 
Abraham Jones, 1769, 1770, 1780. 
Jonas Harrington, 1770. 
John Lamson, 1771. 

Josiah Whitney, 1771. * [1793. 

Isaac Jones, 1772, 1778, 1779, 1784, 1785, 1786, 1787, 1788, 1789, 
Joseph Whitney, 1772, 1773. 
Thomas Russell, 1773. 

Thomas Rand, 1773, 1774, 1775, 1776, 1777. 
Benjamin Peirce, 1773, 1774, 1775, 1776. 
Samuel Baldwin, 1775. 



SELECTMEN 207 

Israel ^Vllittemore, 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, 1780. 

Jonathan Underwood, 1776, 1777. 

Isaac Hobbs, 1777, 1782, 1783. 

Samuel Fiske, 1778, 1779, 1780, 1781, 1782, 1783, 1784, 1785. 

Joseph Roberts, 1778, 1779. 

Nathan Hobbs, 1780. 

Thaddeus Spring, 1780, 1781, 1782, 1783, 1786, 1787, 1788, 1789, 

1790, 1791, 1792, 1794, 1795. 
Isaac Fiske, 1781, 1808, 1810, 1811, 1812, 1813, 1814. 
Samuel Lamson, 1781, 1782, 1783, 1784, 1785. 
Uriah Gregory, 1781. 
Jonathan Fiske, 1782, 1783, 1784, 1785. 
Samuel Livermore, 1784, 1785. 
Jonas Sanderson, 1786, 1787, 1788. 

Nathan Eager, 1786, 1787, 1788, 1794, 1795, 1796, 1797, 1798, 1799. 
Matthew Hobbs, 1786, 1787, 1788, 1789, 1790, 1791, 1792. 
Joseph Russell, 1789, 1790, 1791, 1799. 
John Coburn, 1789, 1790, 1793. 
Amos Bigelow, 1790, 1791, 1792. 
Joel Smith, 1791. 

Artemas Ward, 1792, 1796, 1797, 1798, 1800. 
Daniel Stratton, 1792. 

Elisha Stratton, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1796, 1797, 1798, 1799. 
Nathan Warren, 1793, 1809, 1810, 1812, 1813, 1814. 
Joseph Nichols, 1793, 1794, 1795. 
Abraham Harrington, 1794, 1795, 1796, 1797, 1798. 
Samuel Train, Jr., 1796, 1797. 
Alpheus Bigelow, 1799, 1806, 1807. 
Isaac Lamson, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803. 
John Slack, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803, 1804, 1805. 
Nathan Fiske, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803, 1804, 1805, 1808, 1815, 

1816, 1817, 1818, 1819, 1820. 
Ebenezer Hobbs, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803, 1804, 1805, 1800, 1807, 

1809, 1810, 1811. 
Enoch Train, 1801, 1802, 1803. 
Amos Harrington, 1804, 1805. 
Abijah Fiske, 1804, 1805, 1806, 1807, 1811. 
Moses Fuller, 1806, 1807. 



208 HISTORY OF WESTON 

Amos Bancroft, 1806, 1807, 1808. 

Nathan Hobbs, Jr., 1808, 1809, 1810, 1811, 1821, 1822. 

Josiah Hastings, 1808, 1809. 

Reuben Carver, 1809, 1810. 

Moses Fiske, 1811. 

William Boyle, 1811. 

Isaac Hobbs, Jr., 1812, 1813, 1814, 1815. 

Thomas Bigelow, 1812, 1813, 1814. 

Daniel Clark, 1812, 1813, 1814, 1815. 

Nathan Hager, 1815, 1816, 1817. 

Jedediah Thayer, 1815, 1816, 1817, 1818, 1819, 1820. 

Jonas Coburn, 1816, 1817, 1818, 1819, 1825, 1827, 1828. 

Amos Hobbs, 1816, 1817. 

George W. Smith, 1818, 1819. 

Washington Peirce, 1818, 1819, 1821, 1822. 

Henry Hobbs, 1820, 1821, 1822, 1838, 1839, 1840, 1843. 

Eliphalet Slack, 1821, 1822, 1823, 1824. 

Luther Harrington, 1821, 1823, 1824. 

Isaac Jones, 1822, 1823, 1824, 1825, 1826, 1837, 1843, 1844, 1845, 

1846, 1847, 1848, 1849, 1850. 
Isaac Brackett, 1823, 1824. 

William Spring, 1823, 1824, 1836, 1837, 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841. 
Benjamin James, 1825, 1826, 1827, 1828, 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, 

1833, 1834, 1835, 1836, 1837, 1838, 1839. 
Abijah Coburn, 1825, 1826, 1827, 1828. 
Sewell Fiske, 1825, 1826, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1833, 1834. 
James Coburn, 1826. 
Marshall Jones, 1827, 1828, 1829. 
Benjamin Peirce, 1827, 1828, 1829, 1843, 1844, 1845, 1846, 1847, 

1848, 1849, 1850, 1851. 
Jonas Cutter, 1829, 1830, 1831. 
Ld. W. Cushing, 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1833, 1834. 
John Jones, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1833. 
Ezra Warren, 1832, 1833, 1834, 1835. 
Converse Bigelow, 1834. 
Charles Merriam, 1835. 
Rufus Babcock, 1836. 
Jesse Viles, 1837, 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841. 



SELECTMEN 209 

Samuel Hobbs, 1837. 

Charles AYarren, 1838, 1839. 

Alpheus Bigelow, Jr., 1840, 1841, 1842. 

Amos Warren, 1840. 

Chester Dickinson, 1842. 

Elisha Childs, 1842. 

Edwin Hobbs, 1844, 1845, 1846, 1847, 1851, 1852, 1853. 

Isaac Coburn, 1848, 1849, 1850, 1851, 1852, 1853. 

William Hastings, 1851, 1852, 1853. 

Nathan Barker, 1855, 1856, 1857. 

Luther S. Upham, 1855, 1856, 1857. 

Edward Coburn, 1855, 1856, 1857, 1867, 1868, 1869, 1870, 1871, 

1872, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1876, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881. 
Benjamin Peirce, Jr., 1858, 1859, 1860, 1861. 
Alonzo S. Fiske, 1858, 1859, 1860, 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864, 1865, 

1866, 1867, 1868, 1869, 1870, 1871. 
George B. Cutter, 1858, 1859. 

Increase Leadbetter, Jr., 1860, 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864, 1865, 1866. 
Simeon W. Brown, 1862. 
Horace Hews, 1863, 1864, 1865. 

Benjamin F. Cutter, 1866, 1867,1868,1869, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1875. 
Abijah Coburn, 1870. 

George W. Dunn, 1871, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1876. 
Oliver R. Robbins, 1876, 1877. 
George B. Milton, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880. 

Marshall L. Upham, 1878, 1879, 1880. [l889. 

Henry J. White, 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1887, 1888, 
Samuel Warren, 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1887, 1888. 
Nathan S. Fiske, 1882, 1883, 1884. 
Arthur L. Coburn, 1885, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889. 
Henry J. Jennison, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1892. 
Francis Blake, 1890, 1891, 1892. 
Nathan S. Fiske, 1891, 1892. 

[To the above list by Colonel Lamson may be added these: 
Selectmen 1892-99, Henry J. Jennison, Francis Blake, Nathan S. 
Fiske; 1900-09, Francis Blake, Nathan S. Fiske, Alfred L. Cutting; 
1910-, Alfred L. Cutting, Nathan S. Fiske, Benjamin Loring 
Young.] 






APPENDIX VIII. 

The Separation from Watertown as a Precinct. 
(From State House Records, June 14, 1698, O.S., June 24, N.S.) 

The following order sent up from the Representatives, was read 
and concurred with. 

Upon reading the report of a Committee of this Court upon the 
Petition of the Inhabitants of the West End of the Town of Water- 
town, praying to be a distinct Precinct for the setting up the pub- 
lick worship of God among themselves: 

Resolved and Ordered, That the Petitioners be and hereby are 
permitted and allowed to invite, procure, and settle a learned 
and Orthodox Minister to dispense the word of God unto them 
at the West End of the said Town of Watertown, viz., the farmers 
and inhabitants living on the West Side of Stony Brook, and that 
for that purpose they be a distinct and separate precinct, and their 
Bounds to extend from Charles River to Stony Brook Bridge, 
the Brook being the Bounds from said Bridge, containing all the 
Farm Lands to Concord Line, and from thence all Watertown 
Bounds to their utmost Southward Bounds and to Westward, and 
that all the present Inhabitants on the West Side of Stony Brook 
aforesaid, together with such as shall from time to time settle 
among them, have liberty to convene together to advise, agree 
upon and take such methods as may be suitable and convenient 
for the securing, encouraging, settling and support of a minister, 
qualified as aforesaid, and for the Building and furnishing of a 
meeting house according as shall be determined by a Major vote, 
and also to nominate and appoint a Committee of three or more 
persons amongst themselves to transact and manage that affair; 
and all the Inliabitants and Estates under their improvement, 
lying on the West Side of Stony Brook, within the precincts before 
mentioned, shall stand charge towards Building of the Meeting 
House, the Settlement and Support of the ministry in said place, 
in manner as the Law relating to the maintenance and support of 



SEPARATION FROM WATERTOWN AS A PRECINCT 211 

Ministers doth direct and provide, and be assessed thereto pro- 
portionately by two or more assessors as shall from time to time 
be elected and appointed by the Major part of the said Inhabi- 
tants for that purpose who may also nominate and appoint a Col- 
lector to gather and pay in the same as by warrant or order under 
the hands of such assessors shall be directed and ordered. 

[Signed] Wm. Stoughton. 



APPENDIX IX. 

Location and Present Ownership of Historic Buildings 
AND Places mentioned in this History. 

Page 4. "Sanderson's Hill." 

Now owned by General Charles J. Paine, where 

his residence is located on Highland Street. 
Page 5. "land of Nathaniel Coolidge, Sr." 

Probably in vicinity of present high-school 
house. 
Page 20. "old tavern on Ball's Hill." 

Now demolished, the cellar being still visible 

on the northerly side of Stony Brook road from 

Waltham. 
Page 44. "Richardson's farm-house." 

Located back of the residence of George D. 

Pushee on Church Street and owned by him. 
Page 65. "occupied by Mr. Richardson." 

Residence on Church Street now owned and 

occupied by George D. Pushee. 
Page 112. "now the residence of Mr, Emerson." 

Estate of George H. Emerson on Central Avenue, 

the building having been destroyed by fire on 

November 6, 1902. 
Page 113. "now of Oliver Robbins." 

On Wellesley Street, now owned and occupied 

by William H. Hill. 
Page 119. "Nicholas Boylston place." 

On the north-east corner of South Avenue and 
, Wellesley Street, now owned by General Charles 

J. Paine. 
Page 124. "John T. Macomber's tavern." 

On the Town Square, now owned by the heirs 

of John Jones. 



HISTORIC BUILDINGS AND PLACES MENTIONED 213 

Page 154. "the Minor property." 

On Central Avenue, now owned and occupied 

by Edward C. Green. 
Page 154. "where now stands the Cutting house." 

Now the Town Library lot. 
Page 154. "the present dwelling-house." 

Removed in 1899 to Church Street, and now 

owned by Charles H. Fiske. 
Page 156. "the paint-shop of M. & J, Jones." 

Now demolished. It was located on Central 

Avenue in front of the present blacksmith's 

shop of M. E. Crouse. 
Page 157. "the present school-house on Highland Street." 

Remodelled into a dwelling-house, and now 

owned by Mrs. Albert H. Hews. 
Page 157. "the William Hastings house." 

On Central Avenue, now owned and occupied 

by Andrew B. Driver. 
Page 157. "present Minor house." 

On Central Avenue, now owned and occupied 

by Edward C. Green. 
Page 157. "owned by Mr. Bingham." 

Near Crescent Street, now owned by Charles 

A. Freeman, and used for a screen factory. 
Page 158. "the double house." 

On North Avenue, now owned and occupied by 

George D. Abercrombie. 
Page 159. "land now of Curtis Robinson." 

Taken in building overhead crossing on Church 

Street at Central Massachusetts Railroad sta- 
tion in 1912. 
Page 159. "Dr. Kendal's study." 

Now located on estate of Charles A. Freeman 

on "Old Road," Pigeon Hill. 
Page 162. "The Upham shop. 

Now demolished, formerly standing close to, 

and west of, the house on Central Avenue now 

owned and occupied by Arthur E. Upham. 



214 HISTORY OF WESTON 

Page 162. "the Daggett tavern." 

Now demolished. It was located on the south- 
west corner of North Avenue and Conant Road, 
on land now owned by George E. By ram. The 
cellar is still visible. 

Page 162. "property of Abijah Coburn." 

On South Avenue, now owned by Bancroft C. 
Davis. 

Page 163. "owned by Mr. Harrington." 

On North Avenue, near the Lincoln line, now 
owned by Frank T. Harrington. 

Page 163. "store of Henry Fiske." 

Now demolished. It was located on North 
Avenue to the north of the house now owned by 
W. F. Schrafft. 

Page 173. "erected in 1828." 

Destroyed by fire on December 31, 1899, and re- 
placed by the present edifice built in 1900. 

Page 184. "owned by Mrs. Sears." 

Removed in 1907 to the south side of Central 
Avenue, and now owned by Horace S. Sears. 

Page 184. "house south of the church." 

On Central Avenue, now owned and occupied 
by Harry L. Bailey. 

Page 190. "now the house of Mr. Beals." 

Estate on Central Avenue now owned by Mrs. 
Francis B. Sears, the house having been de- 
stroyed by fire on February 25, 1906. 



